BENGALURU: with an eye on the Assembly elections, Congress and JD(S) members — who are in a coalition in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council — are claiming that the forthcoming BBMP budget with be with their party’s vision. The budget, which will be presented on February 28, is said to have major inputs from former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S), and Congress ministers K J George and Ramalinga Reddy.
Unlike previous BBMP budgets, this year, with the Mayor from Congress and the chairman to the standing committee (Taxation and Finance) M Mahadev — who will be presenting the budget — from JDS, there is confusion about which party’s vision will be the flavour of the civic body’s budget.According to a senior Congress member, this year, Congress wants to present the BBMP budget as they are facing elections.
“The JD(S) had demanded Mayoral post, and threatened to withdraw their support (in the BBMP council) if they were not given the post. Since Congress is ruling in the State, we did not want a non-Congress Mayor for Bengaluru. Later, JD(S) was convinced only after we agreed to give them Taxation and Finance Committee chairman’s post, so they will present the budget. But now, we have no other option than to incorporate JD(S) views in our budget,’’ said the leader.
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JD(S) MLA Gopalaiah said leaders from both parties sat down and prepared the budget. “Of course, the budget will have JD(S) state president and H D Kumaraswamy’s vision for the city,’’ he said, adding that it will be a pro-poor and pro-commoners’ budget.
“This is for the first time in the Palike’s history that the Mayor and Chairman of the Taxation Committee are from different parties,’’ he said. In the last two years of the coalition in BBMP, the budget was presented by Congress members. The JD(S) members had complaints that wards represented by their party corporators got lesser funds than those represented by Congress corporators.
Some of the Congress leaders are fuming.
“There are only 14 JD(S) councillors, three MLAs and a few MPs and MLCs in Bengaluru compared to Congress. We are listening to them, they are making decisions which many Congress councillors are not happy with. The state government’s share is announced by CM Siddaramaiah. This one’s a Congress budget and not JD(S) budget,’’ a councillor from Congress told The New Indian Express on condition of anonymity.
The budget will have inputs from senior ministers like Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.Mayor Sampath Raj opted a more diplomatic approach. “It is a coalition here, which also means views and suggestions from both the parties will be taken. This budget is ours in consultation with JD(S). But a JD(S) member is presenting the budget,’’ he said.