From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Mar 30: In a clear setback to the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which had sought to postpone the elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) by deciding to trifurcate the civic body, the Karnataka High Court has directed the State Election Commission to complete the elections to the city corporation council by May 30.

Elections are to be held on the basis of the existing electoral rolls and delimitation of wards, the High Court said.

If the State cannot fix the reservation quota before the deadline of April 13, the SEC can proceed with the elections based on the existing reservation based on which last elections were held five years ago.

Justice B V Nagarathna passed the order while allowing petitions filed by a few councillors of the civic body demanding that elections be held before term of the present council ends on April 22.

The High Court said the State government cannot unilaterally divide the BBMP as proposed without getting the views of the council.

Any decision to trifurcate the BBMP as decided by the State Cabinet recently must and can be done only if the elected City Corporation Council is in existence before the areas could be divided, the High Court said.

The present BBMP is controlled by BJP, which is confident of retaining control of the civic body if elections were held on schedule, and the ruling Congress party has been trying to buy time to set its house in order to get ready for the civic polls in the State capital. The State Cabinet’s decision to trifurcate the BBMP is viewed as a ploy to delay elections.

It may be recalled that the Karnataka High Court had thwarted the decision of the Chief Minister recently in tabling the interim report of the CID into the investigation on the death of the IAS Officer D K Ravi in the legislature before announcing the State Government’s decision on entrusting the investigation to CBI as demanded by the parents of the deceased IAS officer and the BJP and JD(S) opposition parties.

Mr Justice S Abdul Nazir, who had heard an emergent writ petition filed by Sudhir Reddy, husband of Mandya Chief Executive Officer Rohini Sinduri Dasari, IAS batchmate of the deceased D K Ravi, had issued the stay order to the CID and the State Government against disclosing any details of the investigation until the completion of the investigation.