Public hearing on GBG bill from today, may delay BBMP polls further

Bengaluru: The govt's initiative to revamp governance of Bengaluru is set to gain traction as the joint House committee scrutinising the proposed Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024 will hold public hearings on it for three days beginning Monday.
However, this could further delay elections to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council since the govt intends to hold civic polls after reorganising the Palike in accordance with the new legislation. Polls to the council were to be held in 2020 but were first put off due to the pandemic.
Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad, who heads the joint house panel, said the committee will submit its report to speaker UT Khader on Feb 21, a day before its term ends. The govt will likely table the bill in the legislature during the budget session next month.
"We have completed main deliberations and are holding public hearings. We will submit our report to the speaker within the deadline," said Rizwan.
The GBG bill proposes to divide BBMP into up to 10 city corporations. It was tabled in the assembly in July, but the speaker referred it for scrutiny to the joint house committee comprising members of both assembly and council.
"There is by and large consensus on the final form of the bill," said HS Gopinath Reddy, BJP MLC and member of the joint house committee. "The final report will include viable suggestions from the public. The govt must take a call on fulfilling procedural requirements for civic polls after the bill becomes a law."
There is a sense of urgency as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition on Feb 25 seeking conduct of BBMP elections. "We will update the court about the proposed bill. We will also present the situation on proposed reorganisation of BBMP and the time needed for it," said advocate general K Shashi Kiran Shetty.
Officials said the govt is planning to create five city corporations, which means a new reservation pattern will need to be notified. While the new law is expected to be enacted in April, delimitation and reservation exercises will take more than six months which authorities say could rule out polls this year.
"We are worried about the city's infrastructure development," said Uday Garudachar, BJP MLA. "We urge the govt to hold elections under the present system. It can reform BBMP later since reorganisation will take a long time."
But Rizwan moved to allay concerns saying measures will be taken to ensure polls at the earliest. "We will fix time frames for each procedure, such as delimitation and reservation, in our report. It may take 4-5 months after the bill becomes a law," Rizwan said.