Petitioner alleges raw deal to SCs in BTM Assembly constituency reservations list
BENGALURU:
Among the several legal challenges to the final delimitation and ward-wise reservations for the long-delayed BBMP polls, the High Court of Karnataka, in connection with one petition which alleges inadequate representation to SCs in BTM Layout, has ordered issuance of notices to the Karnataka Election Commission, the Karnataka government and the Bengaluru civic agency. The next hearing in the case will be on September 1.
Controversy has surrounded the BBMP’s announcement of reservations for the city’s newly-minted 243 wards ever since the list was issued on August 3 calling for objections. The petition by K Mahadeva claims that the final list was announced on August 18 without considering public objections, and has sought quashing of the notification issued by the Urban Development Department.
Women ‘score’ over SCs
With regard to BTM Assembly constituency, the petitioner has claimed that SCs are not properly represented in the reservation list even though they constituted 15 per cent of the population of the area.
According to the petitioner, a resident of Ejipura ward (reserved for General-women), the ward was redrawn in such a way that 6,717 SC voters were placed in BTM Layout. Besides, he claims, the demarcation of BTM Assembly constituency has been done in such a way that 8 of its 9 wards are reserved for women.
