BBMP Elections: Several Muslim Ex-Corporators Will Be Ineligible To Contest After Ward Reservation, Community Cries ‘Foul Play’

Several Muslim former corporators will lose their seats if the draft notification on Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ward reservation, which was released by the Urban Development Department (UDD) on Wednesday, is approved.

Most Muslim majority wards have been turned into either Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) or women reserved seats according to the BBMP’s ward reservation list for the upcoming local body elections.

For instance, Abdul Wajid of the Indian National Congress (INC) will not be able to contest from his Manorayanapalya seat. His ward is now reserved for Backward Classes A (Women). Wajid plans to field his wife and contest from another seat, but that’s not the option that is available for everyone.

AR Zakir, former coporator of Pulikeshinagar will also be ineligible to contest from his turf after his ward was converted to Backward Classes B (Women).

Similarly, Mohd Zameer Shah of S K Garden, Nausheer Ahmed of KG Halli, Shakeel Ahmed of Bharathi Nagar, Ajmal Baig of Bapuji Nagar, Imran Pasha of Padarayanapura, Seema Althaf Khan of Jagajivanaram Nagar, and Mohammad Rizwan Nawab of Gurappanapalya will all be ineligible to contest owing to the new reservation.

Community leaders and several opposition parties, including the Congress, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and the Welfare Party of India (WPI) have raised objections against the reservations.

Speaking to The Cognate, Congress leader Mehroz Khan said, “It has been done with the intention of discouraging Muslims and other backward classes. Wherever there are Congress MLAs, these people have done this mischievous act.”

On Friday, Congress workers barged into the office of the Urban Development Department and protested against the ruling BJP government’s ward-wise reservation for the BBMP.

“In Shivajinagar, out of six wards, five wards have been reserved for women. Even in Chamarajapet, five wards have been reserved for women. But equal reservations have been given to their party (BJP). There is a 50 per cent woman reservation but they should distribute it evenly. They have done this with an ill intention. We strongly condemn it, it is totally unscientific,” Khan added.

A total of 243 seats have been reserved for all the categories, of which a total of 130 seats have been reserved for general category candidates. 81 have been reserved for OBC candidates, 28 for SC candidates and four seats for ST candidates. Of the total 243 seats, 50 per cent of the seats have been reserved for women candidates.

This comes after a Supreme Court order a week ago, which ordered the Karnataka government to publish a ward-wise reservation list to facilitate the state election commission for initiating the constitution of local bodies within a reasonable time frame. Meanwhile, the citizens have been granted seven days to submit their objections, if any.

Zia Nomani, the AIMIM Bengaluru spokesperson said, “The seats have been divided only to make the number of Muslim constituencies come down. Also, the way they have done is to create conflict between the Muslim and Dalits. It’s very clear and there is no other explanation.”

“In Shivajinagar, there is not a single constituency where any Muslim will win. Even Muslims are taken away the opportunity to win from Muslim majority areas, where else will they win from?” he asked.

Shivajinagar, a major commercial area and an important transport hub is a Muslim-majority area.

SDPI’s State Secretary Afsar Kodlipet told The Cognate, “This is a conspiracy to end Muslim representation by the BJP. Wards with chances of Muslim candidates winning have been either reserved for women or other communities. We oppose it and are going to file an objection against it. This is an unconstitutional proposal.”

“The BBMP has split certain wards into three to four wards so that the weightage of the minority vote gets reduced automatically. This is a gross injustice to the dignity of the Muslim community and also against the Constitution,” said Habibullah Khan, State General Secretary of WPI.

Khan feels that the new BBMP reservation list is against the Constitution of India. “Article 19 gives the right to express your views or to select your own leader. This right is being taken away indirectly or from the backdoor. It is not good for our democracy. It does not just affect the Muslim community but also affects other communities as well,” he added.

Senior journalist Vinay Grover said that while the wards reserved for women seem to be very evenly balanced, the splitting of wards has been done very unscientifically.

He told The Cognate, “The wards reserved for women seem to be very evenly balanced. That is something which will certainly help development in many areas because last time we found that in North Bengaluru there were lesser women compared to South Bengaluru. So, that’s a good sign as far as development is concerned. Bangaloreans only hope at this time they won’t rubber stamp women representatives and there will be more independent women who will occupy these wards.”

The BBMP council election is most likely to occur sometime after October of this year.