BENGALURU: As the DK Shivakumar government completes 100 days in office, pressure is mounting on Chief Minister to conduct elections to the Panchayats, Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and other urban local bodies. These would be the first major electoral challenge for the new government.
Polls are due for around 6,000 Gram Panchayats, 239 Taluk and 31 Zilla Panchayats, besides five corporations of GBA in Bengaluru. Mahanagara Palike polls are due in Mysuru, Davanagere, Mangaluru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru. The state capital is without an elected body for the last six years. The government has divided Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to five corporations, which are now part of the GBA. However, certain issues remain unsolved.
While Shivakumar took charge as the CM on June 3, Krishna Byregowda took charge of Bengaluru Development portfolio almost two weeks later. Given the issues like potholes, bad roads, bad traffic, polluted lakes, uncleared garbage and other civic issues, facing local body polls in the state capital is a challenge for the ruling Congress. All four Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengaluru (including Bengaluru Rural) are represented by BJP, which also has more number of MLAs in the city.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior Congress member said that people in Bengaluru have forgotten the previous BBMP rule. “With many civic issues, they feel frustrated not to have a local councillor. Our government has also made five corporations, we have pressure to win at least three of them which is challenging.
All these years, Bengaluru had one corporation and usually the same party would come to power in corporation. But now things are not the same. It will be embarrassing for the state government to lose corporation elections,” he said.
While the Karnataka State Election Commission has begun preparations for the Panchayat polls, the government has secured some breathing room for the GBA elections until the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The Supreme Court which had earlier set a June deadline for GBA polls, later permitted extension of time for conducting elections to the GBA polls in view of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The apex court has now set the deadline to December. The SEC has now directed all district authorities to furnish details of ballot boxes available in their respective districts.
