BENGALURU: During the hearing of a batch of petitions alleging that BBMP ward reservation is biased, the state government strongly defended the decision on Tuesday before the Karnataka High Court, saying that it has reserved 28 wards for SCs and four for STs based on the 2011 census.
The State Election Commission said that polls cannot be postponed indefinitely, and the government can be granted a week’s time to redo the reservation, in case there are any discrepancies in providing reservation for women. Any flaws in fixing reservations for any other categories cannot be considered for the present poll, said a senior counsel, citing an apex court verdict which mandates the commission to conduct elections on time.
The petitioners alleged challenged the government notification over reservation for 243 wards. Government contended that reservation of wards for Backward Classes-A and B, and women have been done through randomization method, and reservations for SCs and STs in descending order of their population ward-wise based on 2011 census. Justice Hemant Chandangoudar adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.