Governance

Dear Chief Minister, I am writing to you about the public consultation held yesterday to discuss the Master Plan being prepared by the BDA. Frankly, the whole event was a disaster. The BDA was entirely unprepared, and apart from stone-walling the public on their legitimate questions, the authority had very little to offer. Even the conduct of the meeting was poor, with allegations from some in the audience that the event and its proceedings were a sham. But this was predictable, since the BDA is now functioning in a grey area of governance. Its planning authority has been vacated by…

The Karnataka High Court has set aside the order of a single bench that directed the State government to conduct BBMP polls before May 30th, and has directed the State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold the election within six months from the date of dissolution. With the HC judgment, the State government has got a breathing space to carry out proposed restructuring of the BBMP and conduct the election. The division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy delivered the judgement on the appeal filed by the State government against the…

Karnataka High Court will decide on the schedule of council elections for Bengaluru. Pic: Poornima Dasharathi The Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka which has completed the hearing of the State government’s appeal against the Single Bench order to conduct BBMP polls before May 30th, has posted the judgment to April 24th, 2015. The court also extended the interim stay refraining the State Election Commission (SEC) from continuing the election procedures till the verdict. During the day-long hearing that took place on April 22nd, the division bench sought to know from the petitioners and the respondents if the…

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…

BBMP spends an average of Rs 1.35 lakh on food and other arrangements during council meetings. Pic: Shree D N The five-year term of BBMP council has come to an end and namma Bengaluru is gearing up for yet another election. Before you get into election mode, ever wondered how much public money has been spent on your corporators and how frequently the BBMP council meetings were held in last five years? Here is a peek into such lesser-known facts. While council meetings are considered as an opportunity for the elected representatives to discuss serious issues concerning the public, many…

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…

On hearing a commotion outside the house a little while ago I looked out of my office window and, to my horror, saw a car apparently driving straight into an auto - a policeman who was between the two vehicles managed to save himself by jumping aside in the nick of time. A huge crowd gathered immediately and many irate individuals were shouting at the driver and trying to get him to get out of the car. Afraid of what might happen if they did manage to get hold of him, I went out and appealed to the few policemen…

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…