Karnataka: Ex-corporators allege power monopoly behind BBMP delimitation, delayed election

Delay in BBMP election

Wajid and Shivaraju have petitioned the Supreme Court seeking its intervention in the election-delay issue.

Wajid, who represented the Manorayana Palya ward in Hebbal, told South First, “MLAs across all parties are united in not having corporators, keeping the BBMP devoid of elected faces. The motive is to concentrate power in their hands.”

“The BBMP, without elected members, mandates legislators with a monopoly of power. This is bad for democracy. If all elections (MP, MLA, MLC, etc.) can happen on time, why not the BBMP?”

The term of 198 members of the BBMP ended in September 2020, and since then Bengaluru has been devoid of governance through urban local bodies.

The BBMP was officially formed on 16 January, 2007, through the merging of 100 wards of seven City Municipal Councils (Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Dasarahalli, Bommanahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura and Yelahanka), one Town Municipal Council (Kengeri), and 110 villages around Bengaluru.

The absence of a local elected body to run the city is a clear violation of the 74th constitutional amendment, which requires municipal bodies to function as institutions of self-government.

BBMP delimitation process

Meanwhile, the delimitation exercise aims to redraw wards in zilla and taluk panchayats.

The humongous task to be undertaken by the Urban Development Department (UDD) is to be completed before the BBMP elections.

Delimitation is an important process for any big city or region, as it enables them to have an efficient, decentralised form of governance.

But unfortunately, the BBMP’s delimitation for Bengaluru became a tool to concentrate power, said an expert.

Bengaluru-based civic-issue activist Srinivas Alavilli told South First, “Bengaluru’s delimitation has become an exercise to score political points. The division of seats as per political benefits is done by those in power.”

“The last BBMP election took place in 2015. The city has been without a BBMP council and elected representatives since 2020 September,” Alavilli added.

“Could we expect the state or nation to run without the chief minister or the prime minister?”

Former BBMP representatives and activists largely believe that the state government is using delimitation to delay the BBMP election.

Decisions on delimitation

The government undertook a series of decisions with respect to the BBMP delimitation.

For starters, a committee chaired by the BBMP commissioner was set up to undertake delimitation. The committee submitted its report to the Karnataka government on 9 June this year.

The government then published a draft report on 23 June, calling for objections or suggestions within 15 days.

It also constituted a scrutiny committee chaired by the UDD’s additional chief secretary to consider the objections and suggestions.

By 7 July, 3,835 objections were received, out of which 1,838 objections were accepted and 1,997 objections were rejected, leading to the recommendation of changes to the names of 18 wards, as well as 42 ward-boundary changes.

Recommendations of the scrutiny committee were accepted by the government and a final delimitation notification was published on 14 July.

The state government that day notified the delimitation of the BBMP by increasing the number of wards from 198 to 243.

Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s direction on fixing of quota for OBCs in local bodies, the Karnataka government constituted an independent commission to make such reservations in the BBMP.

The two-member committee was headed by former Karnataka High Court judge K Bhakthavatsala, with retired IAS officer SR Chikkmath being the second member.

The commission submitted its report to the state government on 21 July for examination.

The draft report will be put up in the public domain for people to raise objections and give suggestions over seven 7 days.

The final notification of the reservation will be published thereafter.

Once that is done, it will be communicated to the state election commission so the BBMP election may commence.