BBMP elections: Ex-corporators to lobby with new government for polls
BENGALURU: Enthused by the thumping victory of the Congress in the assembly elections, former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike corporators from the party want Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls to be held at the earliest.
“We have already gone to the Supreme Court, challenging the previous government’s delay in holding BBMP elections. Now that Congress has a full majority and a cabinet will be in place, we will meet our leaders and urge the next district in-charge minister to hold BBMP elections,” said Abdul Wajid, who was a corporator from Manorayana Palya ward. Besides Wajid, Shivaraju, Manjunath Reddy, Rizwan Nawab, G Padmavathi, and others too feel Congress will have an edge.
N Shivaraju, who had represented Shivanagara, said Congress will be in a comfortable position if Palike elections are held. “We will be going with an edge as we will have a strong government in the state. We plan to talk to our leaders to hold civic polls at the earliest,” said Shivaraju.
“It is the corporator who first responds to issues like road repair, leakage of pipelines, fixing streetlights, and other civic issues. MLAs cannot micro-manage their constituencies, which have seven to eight wards each. “Some former corporators will meet the next district in-charge minister and give a representation as the council has been vacant since September 11, 2020,” said BJP leader and former Dharmarayaswamy Temple ward corporator Dhanraj.
Some senior leaders who served as council members in the past said MLAs were delaying the election as they have control over the municipality funds. “The MLAs have a direct say and role in dealing with funds in the absence of a corporator, hence none of the city MLAs wanted BBMP elections to be held on time. The new government is also likely to delay holding BBMP elections,” said a former corporator.
Congress leader seeks actions against Girinath
Bengaluru: Congress spokesperson Ramesh Babu has sought action against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath for allegedly allowing the NGO Chilume to collect voters' data. Babu has sent a mail to Chief Secretary Vandita Sharm stating that the new government should form a Special Investigation Team to probe the Chilume case.
He also appealed to the chief secretary not to take any financial decision on BBMP matters. Meanwhile, former corporator N Shivaraju appealed to Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath to extend the 5 percent rebate on Property Tax. He said many officials were pressed into election duty which created problems for tax prayers due to the non-availability of staff. The BBMP had come out with 5 percent rebate till April end and now wants the same extent for one more month.