Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar has questioned the draft notification issued by the Karnataka government detailing the reservation of seats for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections, alleging that seats that were earlier held by male Congress corporators have now been reserved for women, thus intentionally preventing Congress leaders from running for office.
DK Shivakumar said on Monday, August 7, that 76 of the 90 wards falling under the Assembly constituencies held by Congress members have been designated for women candidates, accusing the BJP administration of intentionally preventing Congress leaders who previously heldthe post from running for office.
“We don't object to reservations for women. Even we want them to have political power. However, opportunities should be distributed fairly. The concentration of all the reservations in a few areas is unfair,” he told the media.
“In Jayanagar, eight of the nine wards have been designated for women. In Gandhinagar, all seven wards have been reserved for women. In BTM Layout and Chamarajapet, reservations for women have been provided in eight and six wards, respectively. Nine of the 14 wards in the BJP legislator's district of Bommanahalli have been reserved for women. You get to decide if it's fair or not,” DKS said.
As per the draft notification, six of the seven wards in Jayanagar have been reserved for women. All seven wards in Gandhinagar have been reserved for women and out of nine, eight have been reserved for women in wards falling under BTM layout area. In Chamarajapet, five out of seven wards have been reserved for women. Bommanahalli has reserved eight out of 14 wards for women.
“The reservation of the wards should have been done in accordance with demography, but the BJP government in Karnataka carried out the exercise in a way that the Congress should not win the BBMP election. The party has thrown social justice to the wind and released the list of reservations of wards," Shivakumar alleged.
He also alleged that the BJP government has removed the names of many people belonging to minority, SC, and other communities — who vote against BJP — from the voters’ list.
"Many backward, minority, and Scheduled Caste people have also been excluded from the voter list. Our party workers have been instructed to go over the list," DK Shivakumar said.
Citing the Congress party’s internal poll data, he said that Congress is prepared to win Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections.
On August 3, the Karnataka government released a draft notification outlining the 243 Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ward-by-ward reservation for the long-delayed civic body elections. Out of the 243 seats, 28 seats have been reserved for SC candidates and 81 for OBC candidates. A total of 130 seats have been allotted for general category candidates, with four seats reserved for ST candidates. Half of the 243 seats have been set aside for women candidates.