Political agenda behind ward delimitation: MLA

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy led a huge protest against the delimitation of wards in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Jayanagar on Wednesday.

She termed the delimitation unscientific and said that officials must not consult any ‘one’ party before drawing boundaries for BBMP wards. “There was no consultation held before carrying out the delimitation. The opinions of Residents’ Welfare Associations were not considered,” she said.
“The delimitation divides the population of a particular community between two different wards,” she alleged.

The MLA pointed out that the delimitation has left some residences up to 3 km away from their new ward office.

The wards in question are Byrasandra and Tilak Nagar wards of the Jayanagar Assembly Constituency. Citizens said that a small part of LIC Colony has been separated from the rest of the locality and included under the Tilak Nagar Ward.

“LIC Colony, Canara Bank Colony and Hanumanthappa Layout have always been together as a group. We also have an association called LCH association that is registered and over 25 years old. The part that is now going into Tilak Nagar must come back into Byrasandra,” said C Manjunath, a resident of LIC Colony who lives opposite the Byrasandra ward office. Another resident said that officials have considered the ground realities. “Just 25 houses of LIC Colony are now in Tilak Nagar. Officials should have examined the situation here,” he said.

The draft delimitation report increased the number of wards from 198 to 243. The urban development department is said to have received thousands of objections related to the exercise. Opposition political parties have alleged that the delimitation was decided at the BJP office.

“The delimitation exercise happened in the offices of the BJP and RSS. The BBMP chief commissioner just signed the report,” Karnataka Congress working president Ramalinga Reddy alleged recently.