The State Government on Saturday notified the draft of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Election Rules, 2021, under the new BBMP Act, 2020. The final notification will be issued 30 days from now, the draft notification said.
On October 31, the State had extended the term of the delimitation committee retrospectively by six months from July 28 to end on January 28, 2022.
It was speculated that the Government was keen on pushing the much-delayed civic polls in the city further, said sources. However, with the petition seeking directions to the Government to hold the polls immediately expected to come up for final hearing and disposal in the Supreme Court on December 6, the Government has changed track and notified the draft rules, sources said.
“The civic polls have already been delayed by over a year and we have been fighting legally to ensure immediate elections. We hope the apex court will rule in our favour,” said Abdul Wajid, former Congress floor leader in the BBMP Council and one of the petitioners before the apex court.
Meanwhile, the delimitation committee is in a quandary as to whether to expand the BBMP jurisdiction or not. While it is proposed to add urbanised villages in the one kilometre radius from the existing limits into the civic body’s area, there are reservations over the same, sources said.
“Given that the 110 villages included into the BBMP area in 2008 still lack basic infrastructure like water and drainage, it is not prudent to expand the BBMP jurisdiction further,” said a senior official, who added that the Chief Minister, who also holds charge of Bengaluru Development was also inclined towards the same stand.
However, MLAs from outer zones continue to demand inclusion of new villages into the BBMP area. “MLAs argue that the inclusion of new villages will increase the property tax of properties in these villages which are mostly urbanised, contributing to the tax base of the city. But there are also real-estate concerns - inclusion in the city limits will make prices go northwards,” said a former councillor who did not wish to be named.
Sources said a draft of the delimitation of 243 wards for the present jurisdiction was ready in the civic body, and if a final decision to not expand the jurisdiction was taken, the civic body was ready to publish the draft to invite objections. Sources in the ruling BJP said the party was ready for the elections to be held by March - April, 2021 and would try to avoid facing the polls before that.
