The five-year term of the current council in Bengaluru’s civic body -- the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), comes to an end on September 10. The polls, which would have been conducted in the last week of September or early October, have now been deferred due to the ongoing pandemic.
On Wednesday, the Karnataka State Election Commission held a meeting to discuss the issue of conducting the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections. According to Karnataka State Election Commissioner Basavaraj, the department wants to conduct the elections in December this year.
However, a source in the state election commission says that the state government wants to defer the elections to 2021. On March 2, the state government notified the delimitation of the 198 wards within BBMP limits. This now means that fresh electoral rolls must be conducted and the Urban Development Department must furnish information to the state election commission regarding the new wards and their respective boundaries.
“The Urban Development Department is yet to furnish information. However, we have requested the government to do it immediately and we do not want to defer the elections to 2021. Once the new electoral rolls are prepared, we will announce the dates for the new elections,” an official with the Karnataka State Election Commission said.
According to sources in the Urban Development Department, the state government is not keen on holding elections until the Assembly sub-committee submits its report regarding restructuring the BBMP. “There has to be something to show for the ruling party. The revamp of BBMP is what the government is looking at. Besides, the state government is involved in efforts to contain the pandemic and holding an election at this point may not seem wise. But the state election commission is adamant and we have to facilitate this,” the source added.
However, the state government has to appoint a senior administrator, who will be in charge of affairs until elections can be held again. The administrator will assume charge after the council’s term ends. The BBMP on Wednesday began door-to-door surveys to get electoral information in order to create fresh electoral rolls. According to BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad, the information would be provided to the state election commission before November this year.