BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been without an elected council for more than three year. Now, the new Congress government has come up with plans to hold elections to the civic body sometime soon. A committee has also been set up to discuss holding BBMP elections.
Several former corporators have held several rounds of meetings and some former mayor too recently met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and urged him to conduct elections to the civic body.
In the meantime, some former mayors have proposed trifurcating the BBMP, which currently has 243 wards, into three separate civic bodies. Their argument is that Bengaluru has expanded to a great extent and the population has also increased. Administration of such a big city is also becoming difficult, and hence, the civic body should be divided, they contended.
In the event the BBMP is split into three corporations, they will be:
1. Bengaluru Central Metropolitan Corporation which will include 13 Assembly constituencies
2. Bengaluru East Metropolitan Corporation with six Assembly constituencies
3. Bengaluru West Metropolitan Corporation with eight Assembly constituencies.
Former mayor Padmavati said, “The Congress manifesto says we will hold BBMP elections soon. The laws have been amended to increase the number of wards from 198 to 243, but the issue is now before the court. We will have to wait for the outcome of the case”.
“The committee of experts set up to conduct the BBMP election is also of the view that this is right time for conducting election. We should start preparations for it”, she said.
Further, Padmavathi pointed out, “Some Congress MLAs feel that injustice has been done to their constituencies while increasing the number of wards to 243. There are instances of the number of wards being reduced and the MLAs feel that the previous number should be maintaned. Most of former mayors feel that the number of wards should be retained at 198, but the government will take a final call. The CM too is of the opining of trifurcating the Mahanagara Palake”.
“My personal opinion that, the BBMP should not be divided and it should remain as a single body. Our demand to the government is only to hold elections at the earliest possible”, Padmavati said.