A preliminary report submitted to the government has retained the number of wards falling under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits at 243, which is the same as the report prepared during the BJP-led tenure.
Given that the delimitation committee has two more months to submit the report to the Karnataka High Court, the new government — in all probability — may issue fresh instructions to revise the draft.
Multiple sources in the BBMP, as well as the Urban Development Department (UDD), confirmed that the preliminary report has made several modifications to the ward boundaries, particularly in two assembly constituencies. It is learnt that in the absence of clear directions from the government, the BBMP has not made any changes to the number of wards.
Exactly a month ago, the government constituted a delimitation committee headed by BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath. Other members include BDA Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban, and BBMP Special Commissioner (Revenue). Four meetings were held before the preliminary report was submitted to the government on Wednesday.
The BBMP Act 2020 allows a maximum of 250 wards and 15 zones.
A minister in the state government, however, said that 243 wards may not be the final figure. “It may be anywhere between 225 and 250,” he said, requesting anonymity. “The court had given 12 weeks to submit the final report. As two more months are left, there is sufficient time to take a relook at the report.”
The MLAs of the Congress party were not happy with the ward boundaries fixed by the BJP-led government as it had dropped one ward each in three assembly constituencies such as Jayanagar, Chamarajpet, and Shivajinagar. It is, however, not sure whether the preliminary report has included the dropped wards of these assembly segments by reducing the number in other constituencies.
The submission of the final delimitation report, which is heard by the high court and the contentious issue of ward reservation, which is challenged in the Supreme Court, has been delaying the elections to the BBMP over the last two years and 10 months. The BBMP is currently run by bureaucrats in the absence of an elected body. On multiple occasions, the government had announced that it would clear all decks and hold the BBMP elections by December this year.