BJP members question validity of report on splitting Bengaluru

 BJP members of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council set up to examine the controversial bill to divide Bengaluru municipal area into two or more corporations, on Friday questioned the validity of the B S Patil panel report on division of the City.

R K Siddaramanna and other BJP members sought to know from the Committee chairman S R Patil the reason for B S Patil not signing the second interim report of the panel despite being its head. Of the four members, only two members, V Ravichandar and Siddaiah, have signed the report, which is the basis for the government’s move to create two or more corporations replacing the BBMP.

The Select Committee, comprising 13 members, held its first meeting at Vidhana Soudha under the chairmanship of S R Patil, who is also the Minister for IT and BT. Except V Somanna of the BJP, all the members attended the meeting. Law Minister T B Jayachandra also attended the meeting and briefed the Committee about the recent Supreme Court order to conduct BBMP polls within three months.

The government had recently convened a special session of the Legislature to seek approval for the bill – the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (Amendment) bill, 2015. But opposition parties in the Council forced the government to refer the bill to the Select Committee. The Committee has three months’ time to submit its report.

Further, the BJP members said the B S Patil panel was forced to submit its second interim report as it wanted to take up the trifurcation process in a hurry. S R Patil is learnt to have told the BJP members that B S Patil could not sign as he was not in station at the time of submission of the report.

The BJP and the JD(S) members demanded that both the first and the second interim reports should be placed before the Committee in its next meeting scheduled on May 15. S R Patil assured the members that all information will be provided to the Committee in the next meeting.

‘Two different things’

Speaking to reporters, Jayachandra said the government has decided to pursue the bill despite the SC order on holding the BBMP polls. The KMC Act amendment bill  and the SC order are two different things, he added. He was replying to a question whether the government was planning to withdraw the bill following the SC order.

He said that the Select Committee would submit its report to the Council after holding two to three meetings.