BBMP elections: Cong committee in favour of holding it by November

The term of the last BBMP council ended on September 10, 2020, and since then elections for the civic agency have not been held.

Last year, the Congress opposed the delimitation of wards carried out by the BJP government. After increasing the wards to 243 from 198, the BJP government constituted a commission headed by Justice Bhaktavatsala to study the political representation of backward classes. The commission was constituted following a Supreme Court order in a case related to ensuring suitable representation for backward classes in Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.

A source in the committee said, “We are in favour of elections being held in November this year. I think the Congress will reap the benefits of the welfare schemes it launched after coming to power. We will have an edge. It is true that the BJP did not carry out the delimitation process scientifically but since the High Court dismissed the petition challenging the delimitation of wards we have to proceed with 243 wards.”

After forming the government the Congress formed a committee to decide on holding civic polls. Reddy, former mayors G Padmavathi and PR Ramesh, MLAs NA Haris and Priya Krishna, and ministers Dinesh Gundu Rao, Krishna Byre Gowda, and Byrathi Suresh are part of the committee.