Karnataka SEC Moves Supreme Court Seeking More Time For Greater Bengaluru Polls
· Free Press Journal
Bengaluru: In a surprise move a day after political turmoil in the state, followed by a high level meeting in the Karnataka government, along with AICC General Secretary Ranadeep Singh Surjewala, the State Election Commission has approached the Supreme Court, seeking more time to conduct Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections.
Visit rouesnews.click for more information.
In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the SEC, which had earlier scheduled the elections to five Municipal Corporations coming under GBA has said that with its staffers engaged in the SIR of electoral rolls and census work, it would need more time to conduct the elections.
Stating that it was in the interest of justice and equity, the SEC stated in its appeal that the GBA's concerns were genuine. It has echoed earlier letters by GBA, stating reasons like SIR, Census-27, Houselisting, resulting in a staff crunch, which would have a cascading effect on election preparations.
Following a petition by former corporator M Shivaraju last year, who had sought court direction for elections to the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, as it had not had an elected body for over six years, the Court had directed the government to conduct elections before June end. The State Election Commissioner G S Sangreshi had announced that the election would be held between June 14 and June 24.
However, in its affidavit to the Supreme Court, the SEC stated that holding elections amidst all these developments would have cascading effect and in the interest of justice and equity, more time should be given to hold the elections.
Greater Bengaluru Authority Elections Announcement Triggers Political Storm & Legal Scramble In KarnatakaAlso Watch:
Chief Minister's legal advisor A S Ponnanna, who was part of the high level meeting said that they had a meeting with the Chief Minister, AICC General Secretary and others over the possibility of making arrangements.
``GBA officials are busy with SIR and census, which will be on till June. When will they have time to prepare for GBA polls? Making arrangements is challenging for the government too. If polls have to be conducted, we discussed what needs to be done from our side, including constituting committees at GBA and party manifesto. We have to conduct polls as per the Supreme Court directions,'' he said.
``Since SIR is a difficult task as most of the people are not available in their homes during working hours, there will be delay in the process. The only solution is to go to court and explain. We are going to inform the SC how many officials we have, how many are on SIR and census duty, and how many are free, how much time we need and how many people we need for GBA poll work. Let us see what court tells for our submission,'' he added.