Series: BBMP Elections 2015

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…

While the nation is still recovering from the unforeseen historic results of Delhi Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is busy preparing to attack other cities and states. Next in the hit list seems to be Bengaluru. AAP’s Karnataka unit members who are flying high with the clean sweep of the party in the Delhi assembly election are now silently preparing for BBMP polls. The civic body poll is likely to be held this year—in 2015, as the term of the BBMP council ends this April. Though the party did not fetch any seats and underperformed in its political debut…

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) passed a resolution in its Council meeting on Wednesday, January 28th, 2015, demanding that the State government extend the term of the Council for six more months, if at all the Karnataka government has plans to postpone the BBMP election. BJP Councillor Padmanabha Reddy moved a private resolution in the Council expressing his displeasure over the state government trying to postpone the BBMP polls citing Palike restructuring as the reason. "The term of the present Council ends on April 22nd, 2015. As per the 74th amendment to the Constitution, election should be held to…

Bengaluru-based Citizen Action Forum (CAF) has suspected a possible delay of BBMP election due to Palike restructuring process, and said it should be opposed. Addressing media persons here on Thursday, January 23rd, 2015, CAF Secretary Mahalakshmi Parthasarathy said that the Forum fears that the State government would use restructuring as an excuse to delay the election. "The BBMP election has to happen in time. Inordinate delay would only hamper the process of forming functional Metropolitan Planning Council and ward committees. The government issued an order on November 19, 2014, mentioning that the restructuring committee report has to be submitted within…

  Despite several measures taken, as claimed by the Chief Electoral Officer - Karnataka, to avoid errors in the electoral rolls, it seems the attempts have not yielded in a foolproof result. Like every year, there are glaring errors found in the final electoral roll published on CEO-KA website in the first week of this month, and the error pattern is almost repetition of the previous years. Complaints, suggestions and requests by various forums and active citizens for the improved electoral rolls, perhaps, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Though BBMP election is only a few months away, it…