BENGALURU: With reservation announced for the newly formed 243 wards of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the stage is set for holding the much-awaited civic elections, ahead of the assembly polls in 2023. Political parties are gearing up for what they view as a battle of prestige, while citizens are at the receiving end, without a full-fledged BBMP Council.
As many as 28 of 224 assembly constituencies are in Bengaluru, which is close to 13 per cent of the total seats. It is a matter of status for the ruling party to win urban local body elections, especially the BBMP. The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to get more seats, while the Congress -- which has the second highest number of MLAs in Bengaluru -- is set to highlight the drawbacks of the government. On the other side, the emerging Aam Aadmi Party is trying to enter Karnataka through the BBMP polls, and JDS, the only regional party, is looking to improve its base.
In 2008, the BJP had 17 MLAs, which dropped to 12 in 2013. In 2018, the number dipped to 11. After Congress MLAs defected to the BJP and contested the 2019 bypolls, the BJP tally shot up to 15, with the addition of four MLAs. The Basavaraj Bommai cabinet has seven ministers from Bengaluru, while in Siddaramiah’s time, there were six ministers. Three parliamentary constituencies are represented by BJP in Bengaluru Urban, and one by Congress in Bengaluru Rural, part of which falls in BBMP limits.
Prof Sandeep Shastri, political scientist, told TNIE that the BBMP polls and results might not be a reflection of the entire state, but could be an indicator of what people think, at least in Bengaluru. With the Congress and BJP being the larger parties, JDS having a hold in a few pockets, and AAP emerging winner in the survey, these polls cannot be considered a semi-final before the assembly polls, he said.
A senior IAS officer, on condition of anonymity, said delimitation or ward reservation in the 28 assembly segments in BBMP limits will be done to the advantage of the ruling party. The fact is that MLAs cutting across party lines are in no mood for BBMP polls. In this scenario, controversial delimitation and reservation attracts criticism, and could eventually result in delaying elections. Also, with the BBMP annual budget size being more than Rs 10,000 crore, MLAs obviously want a share for their assembly segment ‘development’, and will choose the yardstick of unscientific ward delimitation.
Officials said that if a BBMP Council is elected, MLAs and the government would have less control over municipal administration. In many areas, corporators are more powerful and command more respect then the party MLA or opposition. “MLAs wouldn’t want to let go this opportunity,” said an official. In 2015, grants for BBMP councillors in old wards was Rs 2 crore, and for new wards it was Rs 3 crore, which is higher than what an MLA gets.
PLAYING GENDER GAMES
Senior minister R Ashoka, who is also in charge of BBMP polls, said the BJP started preparations three months ago, and is targeting to win 150 of 243 wards. “BBMP polls will help us in assembly elections with micro campaigning, as these councillors represent wards,” he said. Defending the government, he questioned the Congress’ decision on reservation. “In 2015, when Congress was in power, out of eight wards in my assembly constituency, six were given to women,” he alleged.
Former Congress councillor M Shivaraju, taking objection to the reservation matrix, said if BJP really wanted to give 50 per cent representation for women, the seats should have been equally distributed across the 28 assembly segments. They selectively chose Congress MLAs’ seats -- for example, Gandhi Nagar segment has seven wards, all reserved for women under various quotas. In BTM assembly segment, 8 of 9 wards are reserved for women. In Chamarajpet, all six wards are for women, in Shivajinagar, out of 6 wards, 5 are for women, and in Jayanagar, out of 6 wards, 5 are reserved for women.
The reservation list is also drawn up to safeguard MLAs, as strong councillors who can compete for MLA seats find their political wings have been clipped. Many Congress, BJP or JDS second-line leaders complain that their aspirations are crushed. Former senior councillors like Padmanabha Reddy (five-time councillor), former mayors Goutham Kumar Jain, Katte Sathyanarayana and others cannot contest from their wards, as reservation has been changed.
NO ACCOUNTABILITY
However, neither the state government nor leaders are giving a thought to people-centric issues. According to Srinivas Alavilli, head, Civic Participation, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, no public representatives essentially means no accountability. “Thousands of crores of public money is being spent, decisions made and unmade, without discussion and debate in the Council, where corporators get a voice. Here’s an example: The Council unanimously voted to ban flex banners and hoardings in the city. This was applauded by the public as well, and a new policy regulating advertisements was discussed. Due to the absence of a Council, flex banners and hoardings are reappearing, in violation of BBMP bylaws. I’m not sure if this would have happened if we had a Mayor and Council,” he explained.
He also said that a large section of citizens is blissfully unaware of BBMP elections. The migrant workforce from other cities and states is not engaged with city politics, other than venting frustration on social media and tagging the Prime Minister and Chief Minister. “Awareness needs to be created among them so that they actively participate in BBMP elections. Growing citizen movements in residential communities and around various causes give me hope that a lot more people will be voting in the upcoming elections,” he added.
Compact is good, recommend BBMP trifurcation
Even in America, when Republicans take over the administration, Blacks and Hispanics are sidelined, and when Democrats take over, they protect their traditional vote base. Delimitation is not much of a political exercise, rather it is about cartography (mapping). Bengaluru had good visionary leaders like Hucchappa and others. Bengaluru, with 28 assembly segments, is the gateway to power for political parties, as it boosts the tally during assembly elections.
In Bengaluru, many leaders call the shots -- R Ashoka, Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, S Suresh Kumar of the BJP are powerful with regard to the city’s administration, while R Ramalinga Reddy is the Congress strongman. Delimitation is inevitable for Bengaluru. For better administration, compact size is important for efficiency. BMC was compact. I was Commissioner in 2001-02 and again in 2007-08. During my first term, I created South, West and East zones, and recommended joint commissioners at the zonal level, and when 198 wards were added, additional zones were created and Mahadevapura was added. I strongly recommend trifurcation of BBMP. The Commissioner should have at least a three-year tenure, there should be strong capacity building, and focus should be on Education, Health and Town Planning.
— K Jairaj, former Palike commissioner