Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 16 (IANS) The Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday approved the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill (Second Amendment) with Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, as per the suggestion of the opposition, agreeing to drop the provision for the inclusion of nominated members to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).

Presenting the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024 (Second Amendment) in the Assembly, Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru Development Minister, said it was necessary to correct omissions in the list of members of the GBA.

He said certain areas under the constituencies of Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty and Chikkaballapur MP K. Sudhakar had recently been brought under the BBMP limits. However, the names of elected representatives residing within the municipal limits, representatives of local bodies, and Legislative Council members were left out of the GBA member list, and the amendment sought to include them too.

Shivakumar said that since the Chief Minister is the head of the GBA, the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development, have also been included. It has also been decided to include the Finance Secretary in the committee.

He said these shortcomings came to light during the first meeting of the GBA. Opposition members had not attended the meeting due to political reasons, and therefore, the government decided to bring the amendment to include the omitted members.

Participating in the discussion, senior BJP member Suresh Kumar said: “There are already 369 municipal councillors. If the government appoints one nominated member for every 20,000 people, another 369 members will be added. There is confusion among the public about how this is appropriate.”

In response, Shivakumar said: “There will be no elections to the Greater Bengaluru Authority. It is a state-level body, and there will be no immediate problem on this count. In the future, when new areas are brought under the municipal limits, elections will have to be conducted in those areas within six months as per the law.”

“If anyone in those areas is a panchayat member, they will not have voting rights in this body. During this transition phase, we have provided an opportunity for representation from those areas. If this is not necessary and is not desired, I am ready to remove it. As per your suggestion, we will drop the inclusion of nominated members,” he said.

He clarified that during the transition period, nominated members were being considered only to provide representation.

“If the Opposition feels this is unnecessary, I am ready to withdraw the provision. As suggested by the Opposition, we will drop the provision for nominated members,” Shivakumar said.

Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka raised concerns about elected representatives voting in multiple local body elections by changing their place of voting. He said Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council members were voting in different municipal and local body elections across thestate, which amounted to proxy voting, and suggested that elected representatives should have voting rights in only one place for a five-year period.

Shivakumar said he agreed with the suggestion that elected representatives should vote at only one place. However, he clarified that the GBA is not an elected body.

Chief Minister’s Economic Advisor and MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy pointed out that the Representation of the People Act does not allow such restrictions, as changing one’s address makes the person eligible to vote in that area.

Responding to this, Shivakumar said voting rights cannot be treated like a “touring ticket” and reiterated the need for clarity and regulation on the issue.

The Janata Dal-Secular on Monday demanded that the Congress-led state government immediately withdraw the Greater Bengaluru Governance (Amendment) Bill, terming it an insult to democracy and contrary to the Constitution.

JD-S Bengaluru City Unit President H.M. Ramesh Gowda, in a statement, alleged that the proposed ward demarcation under the bill was politically motivated and designed to benefit the Congress, and warned that such flawed restructuring would adversely affect Bengaluru’s development.

–IANS

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