BJP ministers divided over elections to BBMP

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Ministers from Bengaluru are learnt to be divided over the issue of holding elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) which has been functioning without an elected body for the last one and a half years.

While a few ministers want the polls to be held now with the party in power both at the Centre and in the state, others are opposed to it due to internal bickering within the party over the Bengaluru city development portfolio currently held by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The B.S. Patil committee report on the restructuring of BBMP by dividing it into four corporations and increasing the number of wards from the current 195 to 245 wards, has not gone down well with a few ministers. They have urged the CM not to accept the Patil report and to hold elections to 195 wards as soon as the Supreme Court disposes off the case. Some ministers felt it was a bad idea to go to polls now due to the snail’s pace of developmental works and important projects.

Bengalureans are reportedly not happy with the CM for not focusing on city-based projects, being a leader from North Karnataka. The non-completion of several important flyovers, underpasses, road widening and signal-free corridors have not gone well with citizens in the state capital, said sources.

A senior minister told News Trail that with hardly a year left for the 2023 Assembly polls it was better to go for the BBMP polls as the party can release adequate funds for the speedy completion of projects in all 195 wards. If this golden opportunity is missed then it would be very difficult to face the elections since the results of the assembly polls cannot be predicted.

The Congress is making the delay in holding BBMP elections a big issue claiming that the ruling BJP was not confident of winning the polls. Besides, they were claiming that the BJP has not released any funds for the development of wards in Bengaluru since 2020 due to which interior roads were in very bad shape. 

The Congress Party has already selected its candidates for most wards and is asking them to be in touch with voters as the elections are likely to be held in May June. But the BJP is yet to make up its mind on holding the BBMP polls.

Another minister opined that having 245 wards, four commissioners and creation of scores of posts would be an additional burden on the state exchequer. Delimitation of wards would cause more problems, he said adding that the deletion of areas, change of reservation and finding winnable candidates were not going to be easy. If the polls are held in the next two to three months, the existing corporators could be asked to contest so that the party need not experiment with new candidates. “We have conveyed all these to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai who will take a call in consultation with Delhi leaders,” he added.