Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy attacked the BJP over a range of issues related to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s (KPCC) working president Ramalinga Reddy accused the BBMP of unscientifically redrawing the wards in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He alleged that the BBMP is acting like a ‘puppet’ of the state government. He said that wards under constituencies like Pulakeshi Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Sarvagna Nagar, Hebbal, Gandhi Nagar, and Chamrajapet, have been redistributed in an unscientific way without a census. “Last census was done in 2011, we cannot use that data in 2021,” he added.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act, 2020 mandated raising the number of wards from 198 to 243. The government formed a delimitation committee under the then-BBMP commissioner N. Manjunath to redraw the maps.
Reddy said Congress wants a new consultation panel to be formed to look at the redistribution process.
He also attacked the state government over delay in holding BBMP elections. He said, “It has been one year since BBMP’s term ended. The High Court has ordered the government to arrange for the elections but the government is making several excuses. He said the state government has appealed to the Supreme Court only to delay it further. “This is upsetting the democracy and the people in the city are outraged,” he remarked.
Reddy claimed 50 percent of Rs. 700 crores allocated for the renovation of the potholes was lost in corruption.
Delimitation: Gerrymandering
The delimitation of electoral constituencies, if done in favour of one political party is known as Gerrymandering. The term is derived from Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry who enacted a law in 1812 that defined new state senatorial districts.
