JOIN USElections to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) are round the corner and there are no signs of the State government initiating steps to hold it on schedule. This is rather unfortunate as it feeds on the apprehensions of a section of civil society that the government will postpone the elections using some excuse or the other. Already, there are divergent voices on whether the BBMP should be bifurcated, trifurcated or left alone. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the BBMP council prefers status quo, the Congress-run State government is insisting on division. The B S Patil committee too has recommended a split. Some independent observers and activist groups say multiplicity will cause confusion. The action of dividing the body itself is bound to be messy, they say. Whatever the final decision might be, it cannot be an excuse to hold back elections.
The current BBMP Council term which began on February 22, 2010, ends on April 22, 2015. Election to this body is a long-drawn process. The government will have to come out with its poll notification by the end of this month. From then on, 45 days will be blocked for the election process to complete. What is worrisome is that the government as of now has shown no indication of notifying the elections. Such delays are not without precedence. For instance, between 2006-2010, there was no elected BBMP body. It was under the management of an administrator. The problem with such an arrangement is that it is undemocratic as there are no people’s representatives in the BBMP. At that time, the then State government had used the delimitation of wards in Bengaluru as the reason.
The people of Bengaluru deserve to elect their representatives rather than see the city governed by a set of bureaucrats who are not directly accountable to the people. Any attempt to delay elections will be seen as a ploy to foster vested interests to the detriment of the residents. Bengaluru already suffers from the unenviable reputation of being among the worst-governed cities in the country. An elected body affords people a slim hope that some committed representatives will at least attempt to do something positive for their voters. If bureaucrats are handed over charge that hope will be snuffed out
and the city’s infrastructure and basic deliverables may worsen as their loyalties will lie with their masters and not with the people. Civil society and social activist groups must pressure the government to hold elections on time. The government on its part should facilitate elections on time and not wait to be pushed by civil society into holding them. All, in Bengaluru’s interest.