Several councillors from the Congress expressed unhappiness with the ward delimitation that was finalised by the State government. A few wards – considered to be the party’s stronghold – no longer exist.
For instance, Jayanagar ward (Chickpet assembly segment) represented by former mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun does not exist in the new version. The areas that fell under the ward have been distributed among three neighbouring wards. Prakashnagar represented by former mayor G. Padmavathi also does not exist.
Abdul Wajid, Opposition Leader in BBMP Council, said that many Assembly segments in the core area, such as Hebbal, Shivajinagar and Gandhinagar, have lost wards. “The whole exercise is an eyewash. It is a tactic deployed by the BJP government to delay the polls to the BBMP,” he alleged.
BBMP limits
Sources in the BJP are not disputing these allegations and said that the delimitation exercise is likely to be challenged in court as it is based on the 2011 census. “The new census is set to begin in a couple of months. That apart, a separate Act for Bengaluru is being drafted,” said a BJP source.
The source added that the government was exploring increasing the limits of the corporation by adding 64 villages, including Electronics City, which comes under Anekal, Bengaluru South, Byatarayanapura, Yeshwantpur, Yelahanka and Mahadevapura Assembly segments. “This will mean that the number of wards will have to be increased, especially in the outer zones,” the source said.
While the government seems intent on increasing the area under BBMP limits by adding more villages, the previous Congress government had noted that the civic body had become unwieldy for administrative purposes. The BBMP Restructuring Committee constituted by the Congress government had recommended splitting the civic body into multiple corporations.
