BENGALURU: The BJP, welcoming the Supreme Court directive on holding polls to five corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) by June 30, said it is a loss of face to the Congress-led state government for deliberately delaying the elections on different pretexts.
They are, however, still not hopeful of timely elections as they complain that the Other Backward Class (OBC) (A) and OBC (B) reservations were done in an unscientific manner to knock out eligible and winnable BJP leaders in Bengaluru.
Questioning the recent draft ward reservation, Jayanagar BJP MLA CK Ramamurthy, who was also a corporator, said, “Many will approach the court, and this situation will help the Congress to delay the polls further.”
He added that the government has used the reservation exercise to selectively target the BJP, beginning with Leader of Opposition R Ashoka’s Padmanabhanagar assembly constituency’s Yediyur ward. It is considered as the home ground for BJP leader NR Ramesh and the ward is now reserved for OBC (B) (women), where neither Ramesh nor his wife is eligible.
Similarly, Jayanagar constituency’s Shakhambari Nagar ward is now reserved for OBC ‘B’. “Former BJP Corporator Somashekhar is popular in the ward for his works and is sure to win. However, he is not eligible to contest due to the recent reservation”, Ramamurthy explained.
“The government was aware that soon after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, it would be under attack from the court for delaying local body elections in Bengaluru and hence released the ward-wise reservation list targeting only BJP MLAs’ assembly constituencies. The list is prepared in such a way that our leaders will be deprived of contesting, let alone fighting and winning,” said Ramamurthy.
Irked by the list, NR Ramesh said that in the first place, Padmanabhanagar assembly was split between two corporations-- Bengaluru South and Bengaluru West corporations.
“Now my Yediyur ward, which has 9,000 Brahmins and 7,000 OBC ‘A’, is reserved for OBC ‘B’ (women). This ward was a sure shot for the BJP, and my entry into the council will create a headache for the ruling Congress. They have attempted to prevent me from contesting. However, these unscientific lists will be challenged, and over 20 corporators, including Congress aspirants, will go to court,” said Ramesh.
He was also skeptical whether the government can mobilise required human resources and infrastructure for all the five corporations before elections.