The BBMP Council’s monthly meeting is scheduled to be held on May 23, almost two months after the last meeting.

This
will be the last meeting to be presided over by Mayor D Venkatesh
Murthy. However, no policy decisions can be taken in the meeting as the
Mayor’s tenure has ended last month.

Also, the BBMP Council
meeting cannot take any policy decisions without conducting Mayoral
elections and also without electing the Chairpersons of various Standing
Committees.

According to Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC)
Act 1976, the Council should meet at least once in a month to discuss
different issues affecting the city and also to take many policy
decisions. However, the monthly meetings were not conducted in March and
April as the model code of conduct was in force in view of the State
Assembly election.

“D Venkatesh Murthy will sit in Mayor’s chair
at the Council meeting. The meeting can neither take a policy decision
nor pass any resolutions. The Councillors can speak about the problems
in their wards,” sources said.

“We are conducting the meeting just for the sake of not violating Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976,” added sources.

The
process to elect the new Mayor and the Deputy Mayor will be initiated
based on the High Court directions. On April 25, the Urban Development
Department filed a writ petition in the court challenging the April 19
order that directed the BBMP to elect a Councillor belonging to
Scheduled Tribes (ST) to the post of either Mayor or Deputy Mayor in the
election that was to be held on for April 27. 

“A full-fledged
Council meeting will be conducted only after the new Mayor and the
Standing Committee Chairpersons are elected,” a Councillor told Express.