'Dissolve Palike's standing committees'

Addressing the media, Reddy said the standing committees cannot continue once the mayor and deputy mayor tender resignation. It is against the Section 11 (2) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act. "The ruling BJP committed a blunder. All the standing committees should have been formed the day mayor and deputy mayor assumed the office on April 23, 2010," Reddy said.

In 1998, the taxation and finance committee was formed, albeit four months after the mayor assumed the office. The committee had filed a petition in the court seeking completion of one year. But the counsel for the Palike, Ashok Harnahalli, who is now the advocate general, had opposed it. He further said that contradictory statements by the City in-charge Minister R Ashoka and the Urban Development Minister S Suresh Kumar is adding more confusion to the situation.

He urged the government to bring an amendment to the KMC Act if it wants the standing committees to continue even after the resignation by the mayor and deputy mayor. The JD(S) leader warned a strong legal battle against any move to violate the Act.