GBA won't control city corporations, assures Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar assured the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday that the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will not interfere with the functioning of the five new municipal corporations that will be created to run the city.

Shivakumar said this while piloting the Greater Bengaluru Governance (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in the Assembly amid concerns expressed by the opposition BJP that the GBA, headed by the Chief Minister, would centralise power.

“We’re making a small amendment to provide clarity that the GBA will not interfere with the city corporations,” Shivakumar, the Bengaluru City Development minister, said.

“Someone has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with an objection that the government is taking corporations under its control. We don’t want to take corporations under control. We’re making it clear so that there’s no confusion,” he added.

The Congress government has decided to create five municipal corporations in Bengaluru. The GBA will have administrative and planning powers over the city.

The BJP was not convinced with Shivakumar’s explanation. “Tell us how you had planned on controlling the corporations,” former deputy chief minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan said.

Narayan slammed the government over the GBA. “This will be parallel to the Metropolitan Planning Committee. There’s no provision for a GBA-like body under the Constitution. This Act will interfere with local bodies,” he argued.

Dasarahalli MLA S Muniraju said the government, besides “breaking” Bengaluru into five, has also divided assembly constituencies. “Half of my constituency will come under Bengaluru North Corporation and the other half under the Bengaluru West Corporation. Whom should I go to for works?” he said.

The only supportive voice from the opposition came from expelled BJP MLA ST Somashekhar. “Creating five corporations for Bengaluru is a historic decision,” the Yeshwanthpur MLA said.

Shivajinagar Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad clarified that the GBA will only coordinate among the corporations. “The tax each corporation collects will be its own,” he said.

New areas under GBA after polls

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said new areas will be added to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) jurisdiction after elections are over for the five new city corporations. He was responding to demands by MLAs to add outlying villages.

"If we include villages, then panchayat members will become councillors. Let's finish the election first. Then, we'll sit with you and decide on including new areas," Shivakumar said.