Karnataka HC says it suspects private interests in PILs on civic body election
Bengaluru, Aug 16: A single-judge Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday said there are strong hints of private interests in a bunch of public interest litigations (PILs) that came up for hearing regarding the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections.
The court said it cannot stop the process of elections to the BBMP, and if there were any problems in the wards delimitation, they could be rectified by the time of the next elections.
The petitioners sought an interim order that the High Court rejected.
The number of wards in the civic body has been increased from the existing 198 to 243. The government has also issued the ward reservation list on August 4.
The petitions filed by several former BBMP corporators and others came up for hearing before Justice Hemant Chandangoudar.
The judge quipped that there are hints of private interests rather than public interest in the PILs. The petitions sought for redoing the delimitation of certain wards.
The PILs had challenged the delimitation, claiming they were done unscientifically and without regard for proper boundaries.
The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday filed objections to more than half a dozen PILs filed on the issue. The petitions were previously heard on August 10.
The EC, in its statement of objections, called for the petitions to be dismissed as they were a blatantly illegal and untenable attempt to delay the elections to the BBMP though the term of the elected councilors expired on September 10, 2020.
Any direction to re-do the delimitation exercise would be against the Supreme Court directives, it has said.
The Supreme Court had directed the EC to conduct the elections through its orders in May and July of this year in a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the State government.
The exercise of the preparation of the electoral roll for all the 243 wards of BBMP has already commenced and is continuing on a warfooting due to the tight time schedule fixed by the SEC and because of the urgency with which the elections to the BBMP has to be conducted in view of the observations made by the Supreme Court, the objections state.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has also specifically objected to any interim order on the PILs.
The Supreme Court has laid down the law that if elections are imminent, though the Courts can entertain writ petitions challenging notifications, no interim order of stay ought to be given which has the effect of indefinite postponement of the elections and all controversial matters and all disputes should be postponed till after the elections are over.
The High Court adjourned the hearing of the matter to Wednesday.
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Delhi polls: BJP releases second list of 29 candidates, features ex-CM's son, Kapil Mishra
New Delhi, Jan 11: The BJP on Saturday released its second list featuring 29 candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls, fielding Kapil Mishra, a former AAP leader now identified with hardline Hindutva politics, from Karawal Nagar.
It has fielded Harish Khurana, son of former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana, from the Moti Nagar constituency.
With the latest announcement, the party has so far named candidates for 58 seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
The elections are scheduled to be held on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8.
Mishra, who replaced sitting party MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, made several speeches, denounced as inflammatory by rival parties, just before communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020.
Sitting BJP MLA from Laxmi Nagar seat Abhay Verma will seek reelection from the same seat. He won the constituency in 2020 with a narrow margin of just over 800 votes.
Both Mishra and Verma are Purvanchalis. Two other candidates, Bajrang Shukla from Kirari and Pankaj Singh from Vikaspuri, also belong to the same community.
Delhi BJP's Mandir Prakoshth (temple cell) chief Karnail Singh is the party's candidate against sitting AAP MLA and former minister Satyendar Jain at Shakoor Basti seat.
Former Kasturba Nagar MLA Neeraj Basoya, who recently defected to the BJP from Congress, was fielded from the same seat.
Former Delhi BJP general secretary (organisation) Pawan Sharma will contest Uttam Nagar seat that he won in 2013.
Deepti Indora, Matia Mahal, Urmila Kailash Gangwar, Madipur (SC), Shweta Saini, Tilak Nagar, Priyanka Gautam, Kondli (SC), and Neelam Pahalwan from Najafgarh are the party's women candidates so far.
The list features four former MLAs and eight sitting municipal councilors.
Former mayor Shyam Sharma was fielded from the Hari Nagar seat which has a significant number of Sikh voters.
Tickets on remaining 12 tickets will likely be announced soon after discussions on seats like Delhi Cantt, Greater Kailash and Shahdara.
Party sources said former Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi was considered for the Greater Kailash seat, although she was interested in contesting from Delhi Cantt.
भाजपा की केन्द्रीय चुनाव समिति ने दिल्ली में होने वाले विधानसभा चुनाव 2025 के लिए निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/STdMQZZ2VM
— BJP (@BJP4India) January 11, 2025
