Bangalore: The Greater Bangalore exercise was not a ploy to put off elections to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Council but a developmental necessity, said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Saturday.

Speaking at a function held by the BMP to mark the launch of the "Suvarna Khata" scheme, the Chief Minister said there was a feeling among corporators that the postponement of BMP elections was to scuttle the development works undertaken by them.

On Friday, a few Congress leaders had said at a press conference that the elections were planned to be postponed as the partners in the coalition Government — the Janata Dal (S) and BJP — were not confident of doing well if the elections were held now. Mr. Kumaraswamy pointed out that Bangalore had grown beyond expectations and said that the city municipal councils (CMCs) around the city, which were formed to undertake development in their respective zones, had not been able to meet the needs of people. This had led to enormous pressure on the BMP.

Referring to opinions expressed by people that two or three corporations could be formed instead of one corporation, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the Government did not want to repeat the mistake that was made when the CMCs were formed.

If more than one corporation had been formed, then decisions on taking up development works could have posed problems, affecting the overall progress of Bangalore, he said.

Addressing the BMP officials present at the function, Mr. Kumaraswamy called upon them to take up quality works as an answer to the criticism about the formation of Greater Bangalore. He said that more than the elected representatives, officials had more responsibilities and that they must work keeping in mind the long-term vision of Bangalore's development.

Speaking to presspersons earlier, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that polls had to be conducted by the State Election Commission and not by the Government.

This was in reply to a question as to when elections to the BMP Council would be held. He said that when an exercise such as Greater Bangalore was being undertaken, protests and criticism were natural.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister's inspection of development works completed by the BMP caused heavy traffic jam for several kilometres, especially on Airport road and surrounding areas. Sudden bursts of rain made matters worse for motorists.

Mr. Kumaraswamy inspected the 19 arterial roads developed by the BMP using recycled plastic at a cost of Rs. 46 crore and Sankey and Ulsoor lakes rejuvenated at a total cost of Rs. 18.5 crore. He laid the foundation stone for the construction of Freedom Park at the erstwhile Central Jail and also for a statue of Rajkumar at Town Hall.

He inaugurated the gopura on the Kempe Gowda tower at Hudson Circle, unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda at Ulsoor lake and had a student from Maharani women's college inaugurate the skywalk near the college. He inspected the newly concretised Silver Jubilee Park road renovated at a cost of Rs. 60 lakh and threw open the park next to the SJP road to the public.

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