Bengaluru civic polls: Karnataka HC asks govt to conduct polls by Dec 31

Rejecting the plea of the BJP government to provide 16 weeks to rectify and finalise the list of reservation of wards in Bengaluru, the High Court on Friday asked the government to complete the election process for the civic bodies by December 31.

The Karnataka High Court also cancelled the government's notification for the reservation of wards of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The court stated that the decision was being made as the reservation for women and OBCs has been done randomly. The court also stated that since the reservation was made as per the population of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, there will be no changes in that list.

The court has directed the government to issue notification on reservation by completing the due process by November 30. "The election process should be completed by December 31," the court said.

The government in its affidavit to the court had sought 16-weeks time to revise and rectify the reservation list which was rejected. Sources in the BJP and opposition Congress reveal that somehow, the parties want to put off the elections to the BBMP.

They have been trying to push the civic polls post Assembly elections. Both parties think that the holding of civic polls would trigger rebellion among the local leaders in Bengaluru and it will have a direct impact on the Assembly elections.

Sources also said that if elections are held now, the MLA's will have to shell out money for elections to ensure victory of their candidates.

BBMP had recently announced the final list of voters in Bengaluru. As per the list there are 71,19,563 voters in 243 wards of the city.