BENGALURU:
The Karnataka Government has informed the High Court that the preparation for conducting elections to local bodies including Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Zilla Panchayats and Taluk Panchayats will be completed in two weeks. The Government’s submission before the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale came during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by the State Election Commission (SEC).
The SEC has challenged an Amendment by which the State Government withdrew its power to redraw the constituencies and prepare the reservation list. A new delimitation panel was created by the State to conduct this exercise.
Considering the government’s submission to complete the exercise within two weeks, the bench disposed of the PIL. The HC, however, clarified that the SEC was at liberty to approach the court again if it faced any difficulty from the government in completing the task.
Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty, who appeared for the State, informed the bench that the delimitation exercise for the local bodies would be completed today (December 19) and a notification would be issued soon. He also submitted that a draft notification for reservation of seats in these constituencies would be issued within two weeks. Objections to these lists would be considered within two weeks thereafter. The HC, while recording these submissions, directed the State to file a detailed memo and disposed of the PIL.
The SEC had made preparations for the ZP-TP polls in Karnataka in April and May 2021. It had completed the delimitation exercise on constituencies and the final list of voters was also published. The reservation draft was also announced by the SEC. However, before the SEC could announce the election schedule, the then State Government amended the Karnataka Panchayat Raj and Gram Swaraj Act.
