The State government’s efforts to amend ward-wise reservation of urban local bodies (ULBs) in eight districts going to polls this month have failed as the State Election Commission has refused to accept the amended notification for reservations.
The election to 105 ULBs is scheduled for August 29 and the SEC announced the time-table on August 2.
The Secretary of the Urban Development Department had issued revised notification of ward-wise reservation for Bengaluru Rural, Vijayapura, Chitradurga, Raichur, Hassan, Yadgir, Bidar, and Belagavi districts and forwarded the same to the State Election Commission on Tuesday. The same day the commission returned the revised notification rejecting it.
Quoting legal opinion, the SEC in its letter said: “The election process has undisputedly commenced at least from August 2. It is an accepted principle of law that once the election process is declared there can be no interference to the same even by the courts, including the High Court as stipulated under Article 243ZG of the Constitution of India.”
Further, it said if the commission accepted the ward-wise amended reservation lists issued after August 2, the same would lead to protests and litigations. “This will also consequently lead to postponement and delay in the conduct and conclusion of elections,” it said.
N.R. Nagaraju, Under Secretary of SEC, told The Hindu that the Commissioner had decided not to accept the amended notification. The same had been conveyed to the government. It is said that the government revised ward-wise reservation of several ULBs in eight districts yielding to pressure from party workers.
