Get ready for local body polls which will be held soon: DKS

KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday called upon party leaders and workers to get ready for local body elections, which had not been held for the past three years.

KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday called upon party leaders and workers to get ready for local body elections, which had not been held for the past three years.

Elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have not been held since September 2020 and zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat polls were due in April-May 2021 itself.

The State government cited delimitation of wards in BBMP as well as in zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats as a major cause for delay to hold elections to local bodies.

Speaking at the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the KPCC office, Mr. Shivakumar said: “The local body elections will be held very soon and hence party leaders and workers must make all preparations for it.”

He said many leaders, including former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, started their political careers through local body elections and then rose to get elected to Parliament.

Replying to a query on former Chief Minister and JD (S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy’s allegation of phone tapping, the KPCC chief said: “He must have done such things in the past and hence he is trying to level allegations against me.”

Asked about BJP’s criticism about zero performance of the Congress government in the State, the Deputy Chief Minister said: “It is BJP’s performance which is zero. It took that party seven months to choose the Opposition leader and it clearly shows what BJP is.”