The Hindu 22.10.2010
Nominated members still elude BBMP council
Chitra V. Ramani
Nominated members are usually experts in various fields
Sources: lobbying for membership has begun in BJP
Bangalore: Even six months after the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council was sworn in, it is incomplete as the nominated members have not been inducted yet.
The total strength of the BBMP council is 270, including 198 councillors, 28 MLAs, eight MLCs, 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, four Lok Sabha MPs and 20 nominated members. As per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act 1976, the number of nominated members should not exceed 10 per cent of the council’s total strength. However, the State Government is yet to choose people for the 20 nominated posts in the council.
No voting rights
Sources in the BBMP said that according to Section 7(b) of the KMC Act, the Government chooses persons with “special knowledge and experience in municipal administration or matters relating to health, town planning or education or those who are social workers” for a term of five years.
Though these nominated members have no voting rights, they may participate in the council discussions. Sources also said that they had not received any communication from the Government regarding the nominated members.
Though there is no time limit, usually the nominated members are inducted into the BBMP council within three months of its formation, said M. Ramachandrappa, former mayor. “Nominated members are usually experts of various fields, who do not contest in the elections. These members, during the discussions, will help shed more light on various projects and programmes. The delay in naming the nominated members is a loss,” he said.
Lobbying on
Many party workers lobby for the nominated membership in the council. Sources said that lobbying had already begun in the BJP (which is the ruling party in the BBMP council). Those who were denied tickets to contest in the BBMP elections were reportedly promised by the party leadership to be chosen as a nominated member. However, BJP spokesperson S. Prakash denied any lobbying. “Nobody has begun lobbying for the posts. Party workers are bogged down with the current political drama. Our first priority is to form the Standing Committees and then think about nominating members,” he added.
