ELECTIONS

The High Court division bench on Monday passed an interim order restraining the State Election Commission (SEC) from declaring calendar of events for BBMP election temporarily. The court passed the interim order as the hearing of the petition filed by the State government against the HC single bench order to conduct election before May 30th 2015, was not completed on Monday. The final hearing of the case has been posted to April 22nd. Division bench comprising of Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy passed an interim order since the SEC had not yet announced the election…

Reservation in as many as 46 wards have been changed in the final roster when compared to the draft. Out of 198 wards, 97 wards have been reserved for women. It is for the time in BBMP election, 50 per cent seats have been reserved for women under women’s quota.s Corporators from the BJP who have alleged foul play in the preparation of reservation roster and have blamed the government of involving in vindictive politics, have approached the High Court. They have appealed the court to quash the reservation roster. N R Ramesh, who was the floor leader in the…

Even as the High Court division bench refused to grant an interim stay in the BBMP election case on Wednesday, the State government has decided to call for a special session in the Legislative Assembly on April 20th. The special session is called to pass a bill on amending Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act, and enable disbanding the BBMP and trifurcating it. Running short of time, the government is making every effort to dissolve the BBMP before the State Election Commission notifies the election dates. The decision on calling for the legislative session has come in the wake of the…

The pitfalls of an overly centralised governance structure, without adequate devolution of power and funds at the local level, was increasingly becoming grave. The 74th Constitutional Amendment was enacted to devolve powers to the Urban Local Bodies and to strengthen citizen participation at the local level. Local governments reflect the will of the people either by direct individual participation or through interest group action. (Reference)  However, various state governments have delayed holding elections to Urban Local Bodies and misused provisions to dissolve the councils due to political reasons. Jammu Kashmir, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh , Gujrat, are just few of the…

Demanding speedy BBMP elections, better administration and active citizen participation in the selection of urban local bodies, Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Bengaluru Residents Associations Confederation Ensemble-BRACE (a confederation of the more than 1200 resident welfare associations) today urged the State Government to uphold their constitutional right to periodically elect local representative and not delay the BBMP elections any further. Placing forth a citizens charter of demands, they reiterated that the Government’s move to deny Bengaluru an elected council is against the spirit of the 74th Amendment of the Constitution. Also read: BBMP Elections: A Backgrounder.  Charter of demands to the State Government…

Following the High Court’s directive to publish the final reservation list for 198 BBMP wards before April 13 2015, the Urban Development Department has published the draft reservation on April 4, inviting objections from public. (Here is the final reservation list for BBMP polls) This time, 50 per cent of the seats are reserved for women candidates in accordance with women quota. The womens’ seats that were 66 have been increased to 99. However, the reservation made by the government has not gone down well with the BJP, which is the ruling party in the BBMP. Going by the draft…

Karnataka High Court - Central Portico (Pic: Poornima Dasharathi) Even after what seemed like desperate effort by the State government to delay the BBMP election based on the BBMP restructuring and its plans to supersede the BBMP Council, the High Court on Monday, March 30th 2015, directed the State government to conduct the Palike election before May 30th 2015. It also directed the government to prepare the reservation list by April 13th, 2015. Judge B V Nagarathna pronounced the order after hearing the petition filed by some of the BBMP corporators and citizens seeking timely BBMP election. In the order,…

The Karnataka State cabinet accepted the interim report of BBMP Restructuring Committee, with an in-principle decision to divide Bengaluru into three municipalities. The Committee which has come up with plans on how to restructure Bengaluru City felt that dividing is the best way to rule this city, and suggested that there could be a structure of five to eight municipalities. The interim report was submitted to the government on March 19th, 2015. With this, it has become certain that Bengaluru will be divided into three or more pieces. If this happens, you will not have to travel all the way…

With less than two months for the BBMP council term to end and election season to commence, the one-man committee formed by the government to probe financial irregularities in the BBMP has submitted its report. The report has the potential to become a weapon for the State government to dissolve the BBMP council and postpone the election. On February 19th 2015, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced a one-man committee headed by IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Kataria to probe into various irregularities in the BBMP. The committee which investigated into the matter has now submitted its report to the government. Speaking…

With only two months left for the BBMP council’s term to end and the election likely to be held this year - in 2015, there are all indications of the BBMP polls witnessing an interesting fight between conventional and the new political parties. Though almost all the political parties say it is a bit too early to predict the structure of electoral battlefield, specially when the State government is allegedly trying to delay the polls, they admit that the BBMP election this season is going to be different from past. The victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi election…