BANGALORE: A team of former mayors - all belonging to the opposition Congress on Wednesday met Governor Rameshwar Thakur and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention in what they alleged was the government’s ploy to further delay the elections to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike council.
There is a “hidden agenda” in the government’s recent assurance that the elections to the BBMP will be held within the deadline set by the High Court, while also seeking to further increase the number of wards under BBMP to 198.
The team reportedly appealed to the governor to see that the administrative process with respect to the draft notification (of August 2008) which pegged the number of wards at 147, be speeded up.
Speaking to the press later, the team comprising the erstwhile BMP’s last mayor Mumtaz Begum, besides P R Ramesh, J Huchappa and M Ramchandrappa, said that the government’s move to push for 198 wards by means of another ordinance is against the spirit of the Constitution. They accused the BJP government, its city area legislators in particular, of seeking to prolong their hold over the administration of the city.
The government has already faulted on its promise to the High Court. As per the government’s submission before the court, it should have been through with the delimitation of wards and seat reservation and forwarded it to the State Election Commission latest by January 15 this year, they observed.