BBMP polls: Congress sounds civic elections bugle, asks party workers to form new committees

An elected council-less Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has finally got a shot at elections as the Congress leadership has directed its office-bearers and ticket aspirants to start working at the booth level.

With Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar on May 21 asking party workers to prepare for local body elections, there is finally hope that polls for the BBMP, which has been without a council for the last four years, will be held this year.

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Booth-level panels

According to G.C. Chandrashekar, Rajya Sabha member who is also in charge of the Bengaluru division of the party, the Congress is moving in the direction of conducting elections. “We have started holding meetings at every level and for the first time we will be forming a committee to address the grievances related to guarantee schemes,” Mr. Chandrashekar said.

He informed about the committees that are a part of the local body election strategy and said these panels would be formed at every booth. The party is in the process of finalising a name for the panels. The members of these panels will make door-to-door visits to talk about not just the guarantee schemes but also other programmes of the State as well as hear out grievances. In Bengaluru, these committees will be formed within three months.

Mr. Chandrashekar said the party had realised that the court may direct the government to hold elections and the workers need to be fully prepared. He added that in the meetings which were held at different levels in the Bengaluru division, the BBMP election was discussed.

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Awareness about five flagship schemes

Abdul Wajid, a former councillor and Bengaluru North district Congress president, said, “The leadership has asked the aspirants to start working at the booth level in view of elections. This time, the candidates will be selected based on performance at the booth level.

Mr. Wajid said the workers have been asked to spread awareness of the five flagship schemes in every house in the city and the aspirants have already swung into action. 

A former BJP councillor who did not wish to be named said the recent statement of Mr. Shivakumar hints at the election and the BJP should also be ready for polls. The government’s plan to conduct the polls is a good sign and most of the former councillors of the BJP are also happy with this development, he added.