The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024, which restructures the civic administration in Bengaluru, will be tabled in the upcoming Budget session of the State legislature, and following its passage, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be split into two or three corporations and “elections will be held in May 100%”, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said.
Speaking at a press conference, he said the Bill was tabled in the Legislative Assembly in July, 2024, but was referred to a Joint Legislature Committee. The committee, led by Shivajinagar Congress MLA, Rizwan Arshad, recently submitted its report to Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader.
The term of the previous BBMP Council ended in September 2020 and since then polls have not been held.
On funds
Mr. Reddy rejected the claim of BJP leaders that their government had given ₹8,000 crore for the development of Bengaluru city during its tenure.
The BJP governments, led by B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, granted ₹7,000 crore to the city MLAs. While Congress MLAs received ₹1,600 crore, BJP MLAs got ₹5,400 crore, he said.
On the BJP delegation, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, R. Ashok submitting a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanding a special grant of ₹15,000 crore exclusively for Bengaluru in the 2025-26 Budget, Mr. Reddy said BJP leaders had no moral right to speak about development of the city.
The Minister charged that the BJP government had turned “a garden city into a garbage city”.
Development
During the first term of the Siddaramaiah-led government, Mr. Reddy said 400 km of roads were developed in the city. Besides footpaths, signal-free corridors, white-topping, skywalks, bus shelters, parking facilities, Indira Canteens and development work of lakes were undertaken. However, there was no significant development during the BJP rule, Mr. Reddy claimed.
Published - March 01, 2025 09:44 pm IST
