Bengaluru civic polls: Parties divided over timing

As the State Election Commission (SEC) announced that civic polls for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) area will be conducted in June, former councillors said their respective parties are ready for the elections, with all preliminary groundwork completed. However, they remain divided over the SEC’s decision, presenting contrasting opinions, with some calling the move “hurried”.

For instance, Abdul Wajid, former councillor and petitioner in the Supreme Court case seeking the conduct of civic polls, said the Congress party has already completed booth-level work and finished the application process and that candidate selection is in its final stages.

“Now, all we need to do is campaign, for which planning is also underway. Our MLAs and party leaders already have candidate names in mind, and in some cases, top contenders have also been informed,” he said, adding that even Assembly election dates are announced in a similar manner, so the timing does not matter.

Turnout perspective

In contrast, G. Padmavathi, former mayor representing the Congress, opined that the SEC decided to conduct the elections on its own without taking the government into confidence.

Ms. Padmavathi claimed that a staff crunch would lead to inadequate preparation for the elections, which are being held after a decade. “Generally, civic body polls see less than 50% voter turnout, but this time, with proper planning and by allowing parties more time, a higher turnout could have been ensured,” she said.

She pointed out that the monsoon will begin soon, meaning campaigning, which could have helped increase turnout, will have to be cut short. .

“End-August or the first week of September would have been ideal, as there would be neither exams nor admissions in educational institutions,” she said.

BJP’s stance

BJP representatives, who had earlier doubted that elections were likely, are now saying they are fully prepared and will head into the polls with a positive mindset.

N.R. Ramesh, former councillor , told The Hindu that the party has long been prepared and is in the final stage of planning. “The Congress is still not ready and is using tactics by seeking an extension of the poll deadline, as it is divided over going to elections. We are doing our work on the ground, and we will definitely win four corporations. We may face difficulty in the central corporation,” he said.

On the other hand, another former councillor Padmanabha Reddy questioned the Congress on how it was planning elections even though the Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Act has been challenged in court.

Srikanth Narasimhan, founder of the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP), welcomed the State Election Commission’s move of not bowing to what he termed unreasonable demands by the State government and the GBA to further delay corporation elections.

“One of the key reasons for the significant deterioration of Bengaluru’s civic infrastructure over the last five years has been the absence of a properly elected council of corporators. I sincerely hope that the timelines for conducting elections in June will be adhered to,” he said.

Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing in both parties. Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu that the BJP is planning to release a handbook on the Congress government’s alleged poor governance, citing increases in water bills, electricity tariffs, Metro fares, bus fares, and the imposition of a garbage cess.

Mr. Wajid said that the Congress party is now focusing on grassroots-level campaigning.