BENGALURU: The Supreme Court has set a deadline for Karnataka to clear the decks for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections and finish the process of delimitation and reservation for 243 wards in the municipality limits.
The court then listed the matter for July 22.
A bench headed by Justices AM Khanwilkar and JB Pardiwala observed that the state government has appointed a commission for delimitation and reservation based on Other Backward Class (OBC) for 243 wards in Municipality limits.
“The assurance given on behalf of the state is placed on record and accepted. In other words, the necessary notification of delimitation of wards and determination for reservation of local bodies/ newly constituted corporation is completed and notified no later than eight weeks from today," the bench stated in its observation.
The bench further stated that the State Election Commissioner (Karnataka) can begin the work from its end to ensure conducting local body polls and install the newly elected body to BBMP under the Act of 2020.
CM Bommai welcomes SC observation:
Reacting to the development, CM Basavaraj Bommai said the Karnataka government was worried initially as the court had directed to hold local body polls without any reservation, however, later amended (order) both for Madhya Pradesh as well as BBMP. "I welcome this decision," he said.
The BBMP has 198 wards within its limits and there was a proposal to increase the wards as some wards had more population and needed better focus administration-wise. The BJP government gave it a push and CV Raman Nagar legislature S Raghu was given the responsibility to ensure to come out with delimitation and reservation of 243 wards based on the Other Backward Class segment under his commission.
The opposition was at loggerheads and claimed that the BJP government will make the changes based on its equations which would result in many sitting corporators losing an opportunity to seek reelection.