BBMP Elections Only According to New Reservation List: From Karnataka Govt to HC

The state government has argued in the Karnataka High Court that elections for the city’s civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) can only be held in accordance with the recently announced ward reservation list.

It was submitted by the General Counsel on behalf of the State on Friday that any objections or deficiencies may be corrected by the next election, but there was an immediate need to elect new corporators now.

The AG also denied allegations in a slew of petitions that the booking list was politically motivated.

The Electoral Commission lawyer also joined the arguments against the petitions. The hearing was adjourned to September 13.

The process of demarcation of the 243 new neighborhoods of the BBMP was defended by the AG. The court was told that the average population of each ward was held at 34,750 with a 10% deviation on either side.

In the Malleshwaram and Gandhinagar assembly segments, the previous status of wards and population has been maintained.

In five assembly segments – Chikpet, Rajajinagar, Shanti Nagar, Pulikeshi Nagar and Hebbal – the population was redistributed among the same existing neighborhoods.