Bengaluru : Amid stiff opposition from both BJP and JD(S), the Karnataka government today introduced a bill in the Assembly aimed to trifurcate Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city civic body, after failing to get the Governor’s assent to an ordinance on the issue.
The Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015, was introduced in the Assembly by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra during the one-day special session of the Karnataka legislature.
As the House met, BJP demanded that the issue of crop damage due to unseasonal rains and hail storms be taken up first.
Leader of the Opposition BJP Jagadish Shettar said the farmers issue due to crop damage should be taken on priority as they were on the verge of committing suicide in some parts. He also charged that Ministers and officials are not visiting affected areas and surveys were not being conducted properly. Relief work was also tardy, he said.
Both BJP and JD(S) members objected to the introduction of the bill, saying the matter was before the court and demanded ruling from the Speaker Kagodu Thimappa.
Thimmappa said the Assembly has the right to legislate, following which Jayachandra introduced the bill and said government’s sole intention is welfare of Bengaluru and its people.
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy objecting to introduction of the bill questioned the intention behind it. “Does this have any vision?” he asked.
This lead to heated argument between opposition and treasury benches. Intervening, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the House has been convened for the specific purpose of discussing the bill and reminded BJP about how its leaders had advocated for dividing Bengaluru while in power.
He said BBMP is not functioning properly with lots of irregularities and works were not happening on schedule. BBMP had to be divided and decentralised to make it more effective.