In the light of the High Court order on the BBMP council elections, civic experts fear that the polls may be delayed. However, city in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy dismissed this and said the government would hold the elections to the newly formed civic bodies (after the proposed division of the BBMP) by mid-October. Excerpts of an interview:
Q. If the Legislative Council refers the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to a select committee, will it delay the elections further?
A. Even if this happens, the government has six months’ time to hold the elections. The select committee can give its recommendations in 15 days. The BJP and the JD(S) did not hold the polls to the BBMP council from 2007 to 2010. They should now help us finish with the modalities early for timely polls.
The restructuring committee has recommended five to eight municipalities… but, the Cabinet has decided to trifurcate the BBMP.
We have incorporated the recommendations of the committee’s interim report. We are open to suggestions. We are looking at the London model where multiple corporations are governed by a high-powered council.
