State poll panel cancels BBMP election schedule

Palike free to award projects worth crores

The SEC move comes after the State Government informed the Commission that it required more time to re-work the BBMP reservation list.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday vacated the stay on the Karnataka High Court’s order directing the State Government to rework the reservation of wards. Earlier in the day, the SEC wrote to the State Government seeking to know its stand after the SC vacated the stay on the high court order.

The SEC was in a fix because it had declared the election to be held on February 21 this year. By the end of February, an elected body was to be installed. In its response, the government told the SEC on Friday evening that the reservation of wards was not ready and it would have to work on it. Subsequently, the Commission took the decision to cancel the poll time-table.

With the SEC cancelling the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct will be automatically revoked.

Inauguration spree

The City, in all likelihood, will again see the Government go on a projects announcement and inauguration spree.  With the cancellation, the BBMP would be free to award projects worth Rs 3,248 crore related to seven signal-free corridors and around 100 under-passes across the City. The BBMP had shown undue hurry in awarding the contracts by advancing the dates for technical and financial bids so that the process could be completed before the Election Code coming to effect on January 15.

 Its officials had worked overtime, even on a government holiday on January 14 to clear the tendering process but the protests by the opposition parties thwarted the attempt.