Eyeing guarantees benefit, Congress wants Bengaluru municipal polls this year

BENGALURU: The government is working hard to hold Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls by the end of the year — or at least before Lok Sabha elections likely in April-May next year — to reap advantages of the wave created by its five pre-assembly election guarantees.
Senior Con gress functionaries from Bengaluru said the government will push for elections as early as November. “We are preparing for elections,” said transport and Muzrai minister R Ramalinga Reddy.
He pointed out that the high court has given the government 12 weeks to revi se delimitation of Palike wards and once that is sorted, there would be no reason for further delays. Elections to the BBMP council have been delayed by more than two years for various reasons including the pandemic. “After we finalise ward delimitat ion, there may be some minor issues to sort out and notifications to be issued. We will require three months’ time. All this will be settled by the end of the year,” Reddy said.
He admitted the party is looking to leverage the re-sponse to its poll guarantees, all of which wi ll be implemented by the time Palike polls happen. He insisted Congress will have an advantage. Reiterating this, Abdul Wazid, former corporator from Manorayanapalya ward, said people are posi tive towards Congress because of its preelection guarantees, including free bus travel for women and free electricity of up to 200 units per household.
“Soon after the government was formed, some of us former corporators met chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar and explained to them how the party will perform in urban bod y elections,” Wazid said. “We urged them to hold polls as soon as possible. The delimitation exercise will be completed in three months, and it may take another month for political reservation to be fixed. We expect to have BBMP election in December. ”
‘Govt will fail’
But BJP legislators from the city believe it will be “impossible” for Congress to generate the required funds for its election guarantees without antagonising the common man. “We are certain the government will fail, and it will give us an advantage,” sa id a BJP MLA.
Many BJP MLAs also say that by the time cour ts clear cases related to polls, Parliament elections will be announced, and Congress will not be able to host BBMP polls. Yet, some MLAs say that the party is ready to face polls even if they are held “today”.
“We are certain elections will be held by the end of the year. We ar e ready to face them even if they are held today,” said Uday Garudachar, BJP MLA.
BBMP officials said the urban development department will revise delimitation. The previous BJP government had increased the number of wards to 243 from 198 in July 2022. Congress had opposed the final n otification, pointing out that the process was “unscientifically” done.
Local party workers and corporation election aspirants have requested the Siddaramaiah government to increase the number of wards to 250. The government has said it will co nsider the suggestion.