BANGALORE: Although the term of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Council ends in November, elections may not be held as scheduled.

If the elections are to be conducted in November as per the schedule, the process of delimitation (reorganisation of wards based on the population) and revision of the roster of reservation for the wards should have been set in motion by now.

After the delimitation process is completed, the Government has to announce the new wards, allow time for public to file objections and incorporate suggestions before notifying polls.

This apart, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has announced that the surrounding seven City Municipal Councils and one Town Municipal Council will be merged with the BMP to form the "Greater Bangalore Corporation". Although the idea was to complete this process by November, it might be delayed by a few months. Reorganisation of wards was likely to be taken up only after that, sources said.

As the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act does not permit the State Government to postpone the elections on its own, it is likely that the Government will announce the elections without completing the delimitation process. This will provoke citizens to approach the court and get the elections stayed, sources said.

While the elected representatives in BMP Council will cease to hold the office of corporators after November 12, when their term ends, the Government will be forced to appoint an administrator till a new set of corporators are elected, sources said.

Health Minister R. Ashok said, "The process of delimitation has begun and is likely to be completed in a few weeks. The Chief Minister's vision of `Greater Bangalore' will be realised in a few months. Hence elections may be delayed," he said on Thursday. But most of the corporators want the elections to be held as per the schedule.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail