BENGALURU: A delegation of former Bengaluru City mayors and Congress leaders met Siddaramaiah and appealed to him to conduct polls to the Palike at the earliest and also expressed concern over the ‘unscientific’ ward delimitation.
It is learnt that Siddaramaiah also expressed interest in holding the election at the earliest and said he will wait for the Supreme Court verdict with regard to the same and will also discuss with the Advocate General in connection with the delimitation issue.
Former mayor Manjunath Reddy said an appeal was made before the chief minister to hold the elections, since there is no elected body in the BBMP from September 2020. “We expressed our concerns with regard to unscientific ward delimitation by the previous BJP government, for which the chief minister said he would speak to the Advocate General,” Reddy said.
Former mayor Sampath Raj said that in the election manifesto, the Congress had announced that elections to the BBMP would be held once it came to power. “The CM took our opinion and said he will discuss with Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and all Bengaluru party MLAs before any decision is announced,” he said.
Abdul Wajid, former Opposition leader in the BBMP, stated that close to 50 ex-members of the Bengaluru municipality have urged the CM to announce elections at the earliest.
“We told the CM that it is the right time to hold the BBMP election as the party has come to power and it will be an advantage for Congress. The CM said that based on the court verdict on the BBMP election, and the discussion with the Advocate General, with regard to ward delimitation, further steps will be taken,” he informed.