BENGALURU: Legislators from BJP on Monday opposed the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Bill tabled in the House by deputy CM and Bengaluru development minister DK Shivakumar.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka alleged that through the Bill, the government is trying to bring the Bengaluru civic body under the control of the CM and the Bengaluru development minister in violation of the 74th amendment of the Constitution, which provides for decentralisation of power.
Ashoka said as per the Bill, the CM will be chairperson of the Greater Bengaluru Authority, the Bengaluru development minister its vice- chairperson, and MLAs from the city its members. This defeats the very purpose of the 74th amendment, which gives powers to local bodies.
Ashoka told reporters later that if the government passes this Bill, BJP will approach a court of law against it.
Speaking in the Assembly earlier, Ashoka said Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BMP) became Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with the inclusion of 110 villages on the city’s outskirts in 2007. One of the reasons for this was to increase the number of Kannadigas in BBMP limits. Over the years, the number of Kannadigas dropped in the core areas of Bengaluru.
The newly added villages have more Kannadigas. “If you split BBMP and create more corporations, the number of Kannadigas will again go down in the limits of some corporations. This may work against Kannadigas in mayoral elections. We may write to the Centre in this regard,” he said.
If more corporations are created by splitting BBMP, there will be uneven growth in certain areas. “Places such as Mahadevapura, KR Pura or Hebbal, where IT professionals live in large numbers, will help generate more revenues to respective corporations through taxes when compared to areas in Old Bengaluru. There will be no equitable distribution of funds for development works. This may lead to unrest in areas that receive poor allocation,’’ he said.
Ashoka pointed out that when one CM can manage Karnataka, which has a population of over seven crore, and one PM can look after the country with more than 120 crore people, why cannot one mayor manage Bengaluru?
Drawing the Speaker’s attention to the matter, he said, “Over the years, the number of legislators has increased. Does this mean the Assembly should have more Speakers?”