BBMP division: One city to 5 - For better or worse?

Bengaluru: The Congress is doing what it is best at -- politicking in Bengaluru City. Citizens are clueless about elections, the state government is yet to make up its mind on dismantling the city into five parts (the issue is now in the ongoing session), the court is pressing for elections and the election commission is playing second fiddle -- sometimes to the government and sometimes to the high court.

In the next week, there will be some clarity.  The BBMP may be dismantled and the city divided into five corporations on the lines of the recommendations of the BS Patil committee report. The Government may decide to put the recommendations of the committee in the deep freezer and go for elections. Also, the Government may indulge in a long-drawn-out legal battle over the issue while the administrators will continue to govern the BBMP.

The congress government’s attempts to stall the BBMP elections in the wake of public outrage following DK Ravi's death has failed at every step. With two months to go for the completion of the BJP’s tenure at the BBMP, the congress government set up the Kataria committee to look into irregularities in the civic body.

While the committee made strong recommendations for superseding, the government however, failed in its attempt and allowed the completion of the term. At the same time, it also set up a select committee headed by SR Patil, Minister for IT and BT and another committee headed by former Chief Secretary BS Patil, both to revamp and restructure Bengaluru city.

Meanwhile, active members of the political class approached the court with a plea to hold the elections as soon as possible. While the high court directed the government and the state election commission to hold the elections at the earliest, the state government didn’t budge and went to the Supreme Court with the same appeal -- that it wanted to restructure Bengaluru.  It met with the same fate in the Supreme Court. While the election commission announced the calendar of events, the state government again went to the HC, seeking deferment of election on the basis of the 2001 census being considered for the current elections. The High court again reiterated that elections had to be held and that this was not a valid ground.

Undeterred, the state again knocked at the door of the SC on the same grounds. This time, to the utter dismay of legal eagles, activists and observers, the court gave the state government two months’ time to hold elections but did not change the reservation pattern. An unchanged census was considered for elections and in the present form of BBMP. The order was looked at as one without any merit. The turn of events following this is quite significant and it seems the legislature and the judiciary are now on a collision course.

The congress top brass doesn’t seem to be on the same page either. While sources in the urban development department told this paper that there was pressure on the BS Patil committee to present the report at the earliest, some congress leaders including G Parameshwara and District-in-Charge minister Ramalinga Reddy appear  to be in the poll mood.

The congress government headed by Siddaramaiah and close aides, including some ministers and MLAs, seem to want to unsettle things through the BS Patil committee report. If the government wants to achieve this, they have to present the bill to restructure Bengaluru in the ongoing session. By doing so, the question of holding elections to the BBMP does not arise at all.

With all these developments in the background, the question arises – is the congress serious about solving the city’ crisis, even as the restructuring move appears to be a smoke screen.

The moot question now is, will the Siddaramaiah government pass the bill and tell the court that elections to BBMP are meaningless now, or will they buckle under pressure from the courts and hold elections? The election commission on its part has to also take the blame, simply because the body waited for the government order and court orders on this issue. It did maintain in the courts, that it is ready to hold elections and that it had already spent a lot of money for poll preparations.

In that case, why didn’t it act independently and announce elections on time? A classic example that points towards the fact that the election commission played second fiddle is a submission made to the High Court on Monday that it would announce the dates only after it was asked to do so by the High Court!

Restructuring is not the solution — experts

Restructuring is a not a tool to address civic issues and corruption, say activists and experts. The report has been talking about restructuring the city but some of the issues like resolving garbage crisis, traffic and planning have not been tackled.

The committee has suggested five municipal corporations – but the term ‘municipal corporations’ itself gives a wrong impression. Though it will work under the apex body Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), it seems like it will function as an independent corporation, said Kathyayini Chamaraj, executive trustee member, CIVIC.

“We wanted the committee to give a single image to the city. Also, it has recommended that under the municipal corporations, two zones will function. This makes it four-tier governance and not a three-tier set up”, she opined.

The BBMP is considered to be the most corrupt system and major administrative reforms are necessary for better local governance. Some of the suggestions of the committee are welcome, but having five municipal corporations instead of one will be dividing the problem into five parts, said Prithvi Reddy, National Executive Council Member AAP.

Though devolution of powers was expected, the Chief Minister is still the chairman of the Greater Bengaluru Authority for at least 10 years. Citizens should have got more voice.
Although the report is well intended, it does not follow the spirit of  the 74thamendment to Constitution.