BENGALURU: The state government has published a draft notification of reservation for wards under the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Class (OBC) A, B, women and general categories for elections to the five city corporations of Bengaluru.
Interestingly, 174 seats out of 369 have been reserved for women under various categories.
The Urban Development Department (UDD) has considered the 2011 population census to announce the reservation. The public can send their suggestions and objections to the notification within 15 days, ending January 23, to the UDD office at Room Number 436, 4th Floor, Vikas Soudha before 5.30 pm.
With the draft notification, the buzz over elections to Bengaluru has gained momentum. The polls are likely in May, department sources said.
The Bengaluru Central City Corporation (BCCC) has 63 wards spread across six Assembly constituencies of Shivajinagar (8 wards), CV Raman Nagar (13), Shanthinagar (10), Chickpet (12), Chamarajpet (10) and Gandhinagar (10) -- and the government has reserved 11 seats for SCs, one for ST, 15 for OBC (A), four for OBC (B), 32 for general category and 29 seats for women.
In the Bengaluru North City Corporation (BNCC), of the 72 wards, 33 are reserved for women. The corporation is spread across seven Assembly segments -- Yelahanka 7, Byatarayanapura 14, Sarvagnanagar 16, Pulakeshinagar 11 Hebbal 11, RR Nagar 5 and Dasarahalli 8. Nine are reserved for SCs, two for STs, 19 for OBC A, five for OBC B and general category 32.
The Bengaluru East City Corporation (BECC), which has KR Puram (28) and Mahadevpura (22) Assembly constituencies, has 50 wards, of which 23 are reserved for women, seven for SCs, one for ST, 14 for OBC A, three for OBC B, and 25 for general category.
In the Bengaluru West City Corporation (BWCC), 55 seats of the total 112 are reserved for women, SC - 9, ST- 2, BC (A) - 30, OBC (B) - 7, general category 64. The corporation is spread across 10 Assembly segments -- Dasarahalli-10, Yeshwanthpur-11, RR Nagar-14, Mahalakshmi Layout-12, Malleswaram-10, Rajajinagar-11, Govindrajnagar-13, Vijayanagar-13, Basavanagudi-10 and Padmanabhanagar-7.
In the Bengaluru South City Corporation (BSCC), 34 seats are reserved for women, seven for SCs, one for ST, 14 for OBC A, three for OBC B and 13 for general category. The corporation has eight Assembly segments: Padmanabha Nagar-6, Jayanagar-10, BTM-Layout-14, Mahadevapura-1, Anekal-1, Yeshwanthpur-1, Bengaluru South-19 and Bommanahalli-20.
The draft notification has been announced under Section 29 of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act 2024.
Opposition objects to reservation
NR Ramesh, a former corporator and BJP leader, said that six BJP leaders, including him, have approached the court over the delay in holding local body elections to Bengaluru. “Though the hearing is pending on the reservation list to be published by January 12, the Congress government has released the list which is unscientific. As per the draft notification, 11 seats for women have been reduced, while 15 seats reserved for OBCs and SC/STs have been removed. This will be questioned in court and the government has done this deliberately to delay the elections,” he alleged.