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 High Court divisional bench refusing to grant a stay on the single bench order to conduct the BBMP election by May 31st. The state government’s efforts to pass an ordinance on trifurcating BBMP too went in vain, with Governor Vajubhai Vala returning the ordinance seeking an explanation.

However, it may not be a smooth sail for the government to pass the KMC Amendment bill. Though the government has majority in the Assembly where the bill may be easily passed, it has less number of seats in the Legislative Council where the combined opposition are in majority. The bill, even if it is passed, has to get consent of the Governor to be introduced as an Act.

SEC gears up for election

The High Court’s refusal to grant a stay has come as a relief to the State Election Commission (SEC) which has gone ahead with the election preparation and is expected to announce the election dates within two to three days. The SEC will make its move on the election process based on the revised reservation roster of all BBMP wards as notified by the State government on April 13th.

In fact, State Election Commissioner P N Sreenivasachari convened a meeting of the officials including the BBMP Commissioner and Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner, to discuss election preparations. The SEC has already appointed 35 Election Observers and 51 Returning Officers.