Bengaluru civic polls: The semi-finals before the Assembly elections
With the Supreme Court paving the way for conducting elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the stage is set for a keenly contested precursor to the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in Karnataka early next year.
The apex court in an interim order on Friday had given Karnataka state eight weeks to prepare the list of Other Backward Classes eligible for reservation in local bodies and saying that after that, the State Election Commission (SEC) must prepare for the BBMP elections.
A relieved chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said the government had been worried about how to conduct BBMP elections immediately based on the SC’s previous order and added the SEC has been asked to publish the calendar of events in the 9th week after the time given for delimitation and OBC reservation is over.
Testing of strengths
The civic polls in Bengaluru will be held two years after its previous term came to an end. The Opposition has been accusing the BJP of deliberately postponing the civic poll so that its MLAs could call the shots in Bengaluru in the absence of a civic body. Apart from being the capital of the state, Bengaluru is also important electorally and financially – it contributes 12.5 per cent of the seats in the Karnataka legislative assembly and over 60 per cent of the state’s revenue annually.
Also read: SC verdict: Karnataka says it is ready to hold civic body elections
No wonder, the Bengaluru civic polls are being seen as the semi-finals to the Assembly elections to be held early next year. The BBMP elections will be a test of strength for both the BJP and the Congress – the two parties dominate the political scape of Bengaluru with Janata Dal (Secular) a distant third in the city – and will provide the two parties with an opportunity to fine-tune their respective strategies for the Assembly elections.
Will the BJP retain its advantage?
In the last BBMP elections held seven years ago in 2015, the BJP had won 100 out of 198 seats, followed by the Congress with 76, JD(S) 14 with independents and others winning eight. Also, in BBMP polls, MLAs play an important role in mobilising support for their respective parties. Here too, the ruling BJP has an advantage. Out of 27 assembly constituencies within Bengaluru’s municipal limits, the BJP has 15 MLAs, the Congress 11 and the JD(S) holds just one segment. Bengaluru also has a dominating presence in the state cabinet with CM Bommai having seven ministers representing the city.
The two parties are both confident of the outcome being in their favour. “Bengaluru is the BJP’s stronghold,” Revenue Minister R Ashoka, one of the BJP’s most influential leaders in Bengaluru, told the Deccan Herald. “We have completed our organisational exercises at the booth level. Our victory is certain,” he added.
On the other hand, Karnataka Congress working president Ramalinga Reddy, a former minister, said, “After the recent five states’ elections, the BJP had some advantage. But, of late, the BJP’s wrongs have helped us, especially corruption issues.”
The new vs the old
Three years ago, in 2019, a number of Congress MLAs had jumped ship to join the BJP along with their loyal councillors, which had led to the fall of Congress-JD(S) government. While JD(S) is fighting independently this time, the pressure will be on the BJP to accommodate the aspirations of the new entrants which might leave the BJP loyalists miffed. For the Congress too, finding a strong replacement for the councillors who had switched sides won’t be an easy task.
Former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy too promises that his party will give a tough fight to the BJP and the Congress. “Our party is ready for the election. Even if the election is held immediately, we are ready. People have seen the fate of both national parties and are angry with them,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the new entrant this time. “AAP is determined to win the BBMP elections with a vast majority. We have party leaders, workers and supporters in every ward,” AAP Karnataka convener Prithvi Reddy told the Deccan Herald.
With all the players exuding confidence, the BBMP poll fight promises to be an interesting and it will surely have an impact with regard to moulding perceptions for the assembly elections.
