ELECTIONS

Even as the Karnataka State Election Commission has announced the BBMP council elections schedule, one court case on ward reservation is pending at the Supreme Court. Alongside, the Chief Minister’s ABIDe (Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development) task force’s draft law, the Bengaluru Governance Bill 2009, is still hanging fire. This Bill talks of directly electing a Mayor and electing members to ward committees. But confusion looms large over this as some city politicos are not keen on having elected members on the ward committee. Transport Minister R Ashoka. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal. Amidst all the election-talk, Citizen Matters caught up with…

"Who are these people, these former IAS officers and all, to compare London to Bangalore and propose these changes?"  he thundered on the phone. His tone and outburst were astounding, and for a moment it appeared that he had mistaken the Citizen Matters editor for someone else. "What is the paristhithi in Bangalore?" he then shot off, implying that Bengaluru was simply not London.The speaker was Jayanagar MLA B N Vijaykumar. Citizen Matters had asked him what he thought of ABIDE's proposal to have direct elections from neighbourhoods into ward committees, which was being vetted by his party colleagues in…

Standing outside his house, one feels quite dwarfed*. And that’s purely because of the sheer size of the house. Massive would be an understatement. The name plate in Kannada, bold and big, reads Katta Subramanya Naidu. A policeman and a security guard greet me at the gate, expecting my arrival and lead me right in. As I wait in Naidu’s office, his staff and I exchange pleasantries, as they begin the day’s work. After a cup of coffee, a gentleman informs me that “sahibru” will be down in about 20 minutes. “He came late last night because of work, at…

The state government has notified the reservation of seats for Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST), Backward Classes (BC) communities and women for the upcoming BBMP elections. Article 243T (Part IX A) of the Indian Constitution says: (1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the municipal area or of the Scheduled…

For over 10 days, the power tussle between the Reddy brothers faction and the Yeddyurappa camp has virtually held the work of government hostage. How has the internal turmoil in the BJP government impacted the prospects for “fixing” a whole host of Bengaluru problems? The Government of Karnataka, on November 13th 2009, put out a state-level Urban Development draft policy for public comment. Minister of Law and Urban development S Suresh Kumar released the draft, which has been prepared by A Ravindra, Advisor to the Chief Minister on urban affairs. It mentions the setting up of a Metropolitan Planning Committee…

Her eyes well-up as she speaks about the notice she received from the Karnataka Forest Department dated September 1st 2009, informing her that her house is illegal as it is on forest land. She was to appear in court on September 14th with all her property documents, as per the notice. Forty-year-old Baby Saroja is a resident of the Rajiv Gandhi Nagar Slum in Devasandra, Krishnarajapuram Hobli, of East Bengaluru. This area falls under Ward No. 55 - Devasandra*. The slum is crammed with tiny houses – mould, thatched and tiled roofs can be found, and water flows through the…

“I won’t vote this time. What’s the point?”, asks a flustered Siddalakshmi, 55-year-old Bengaluru's slum-dweller in Koramangala’s Rajendranagar, referring to the now over-due BBMP council elections. Siddalakshmi’s anguish is shared by her neighbours, as she urges them not to vote as well. “Even if we are not voting, we should all decide to not vote. Not just one or two people”, quips Sujatha S, 33, another resident of the area. 55-year-old Siddalakshmi. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal. Siddalakshmi, Sujatha and the others explain the various problems in their area, which remain unheard till today. “The toilet chamber overflows and everything comes into…

Take your Form 6 to the Voter Facilitation Centre (VFC) of your Assembly Constituency (AC). Even though your wards may have changed after delimitation, your constituency remains the same. Each AC has one VFC. You can get the address and contact number of your VFC here. Remember, even though there are new wards now, your VFC will remain the same since your AC has not changed.Submit the Form 6 at the VFC with copies of address proof/ID proof.The VFC officials will check if your form has been filled in correctly and then give you an acknowledgment receipt.These forms are then…

As the BBMP elections are slated to be held by the end of the year, this new website, set up by Zoomin Softech Pvt Ltd, an IT solutions company, for State Election Commission (SEC), will help you search for your name on the voters list.But this is only if you voted for the parliamentary elections earlier this year. Citizens who have registered during the past few months after the Lok Sabha polls will not find their names on this site, since these updates have not yet been published online.The homepage of the site has both English and Kannada, with the…

With the BBMP polls scheduled to be held this later year, Citizen Matters has obtained a copy of the draft reservation of seats for Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST), Backward Classes (BC) communities and Women. While the release of the final list is understood to be imminent, this unpublished version was received via Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), a group of citizens and members of Residents Welfare Associations (RWA). Puttanna Chetty Town Hall on JC Road. Pic: Venkatesan Perumal The new and expanded BBMP (city) council when fully constituted will have 198 seats, as opposed to the erstwhile BMP council,…