Local body polls: September to be first big test for Bommai govt

BENGALURU: Even as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is busy dousing dissent over portfolio allocation, the first big challenge for the administration is already upon it. The Karnataka Election Commission on Wednesday announced elections to various urban local bodies (ULBs), including three city municipal corporations, on September 3. The counting of votes will be taken up on September 6.
The Karnataka High Court had recently directed the State Election Commission to hold elections to urban local bodies where they are due.

The three major city corporations which will be going to polls are Hubballi-Dharwad, which has 82 wards, Kalaburagi (55 wards) and Belagavi (58 wards). Polling will also be held for the town municipal corporations of Doddaballapur, Tarikere and some other places. This apart, bypolls will be held for 21 ULB wards in 13 districts. Since all the three major city corporations going to polls are in North Karnataka, there will be pressure on Bommai to ensure BJP’s victory in the civic bodies.

The twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad, and also Kalaburagi and Belagavi, have a good number of Lingayat voters and Bommai and eight of his ministers who are Lingayats, will be looking to leverage the community connect. During B S Yediyurappa’s tenure as chief minister, the state witnessed bypolls to 19 Assembly constituencies and the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat. The BJP won 16 of these bypolls. The party had also claimed that candidates backed by it performed well in the gram panchayat elections held in December 2020.

As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the district deputy commissioners will issue the poll notification on August 16. The last day for filing nomination is August 23, while verification of papers will be on August 24. The last day for withdrawal of nominations is August 26. The code of conduct in the jurisdiction of the respective ULBs will be in effect from August 16 to September 6.