Mysuru: The manner in which delimitation of 65 wards in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has been carried out and the way reservation of wards for different categories has been announced has not gone down well among the elected representatives especially from the JD(S) and the BJP who have cried conspiracy by the previous Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddharamaiah.
They have alleged that wards have been divided to suit the interests of Congress party and as such, they have called for a revision of ‘unscientific and illogical’ delimitation process and the reservation categories before the MCC election that is due in September this year.
The MCC Election Branch has received 187 objections to the delimitation and reservation till yesterday, the last date to file objections. Most of the objections are from the elected representatives from BJP and JD(S) and the public.
However, according to officials, the delimitation process cannot be changed or altered as it was completed last year. Only the reservation metrics can be changed, provided the government agrees to it. Elections for the 116 local bodies, including the MCC and a couple of other City Corporations are slated for September and the Election Commission is likely to announce poll schedule in August. The MCC, at present is being governed by JD(S)-BJP combine and its term will end on Sept. 5.
Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, officials from the MCC Election Branch said that the District Administration had called for objections only to the reservation metrics and not for delimitation exercise (as it is already completed) on June 19. On June 22, the MCC received 43 objections, 42 on June 23 and 102 objections were filed on June 25.
“The objections have been sent to Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar who will forward the same to the State Government. After receiving approval from the State if any changes are to be made in the reservation, one more notification will be issued,” officials said. They said that the delimitation will stay and no changes will be made.
Meanwhile, former Minister and Krishnaraja MLA S.A. Ramdas yesterday said that he would file an objection to the draft notifications of the reservations and the delimitation of wards.
“The Wards were not delimited from the last 17 years. Though the population has increased, the authorities have not increased the number of Wards. Without finalising the delimitation of the Wards, the Govt. has issued the reservation draft notification, which is unscientific,” MLA Ramdas said.
He cited the reservation of both Wards in Dalit-dominated Ashokapuram to women from general category and Brahmin and Vokkaliga-dominated areas of Jayanagar to Dalits while questioning the rationale behind the reservation.
“Krishnaraja Assembly constituency I represent has been targeted as the number of Wards in the constituency had been brought down from 21 to 19. Of the 19 Wards, as many as 13 had been reserved for women, denying upcoming men from different castes an opportunity to contest in the elections,” he said.
The Govt. has reserved 13 Wards under KR for women but as per the norms, there is a provision to reserve only nine Wards for women. “I have no objection for 50% reservation for women but, the reservation should be followed as per norms,” he said.
Terming the reservation as totally unscientific, former Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa has said that the reservation prevents most of the seasoned politicians from contesting elections. Bhyrappa, a sitting Corporator from Ward 12, blamed lack of sense on the part of officials who prepared the draft on the basis of population census of 2007, ignoring the latest census.
“Though the city has grown by leaps and bounds with the development of 40 new residential Layouts, they are not brought under the ambit of MCC,” he said and added that he has written to the Election Commission and the State Government in this regard.
This post was published on June 26, 2018 6:45 pm