India News | BJP Demands BBMP Polls, Opposes Tunnel Road Project, Seeks Higher Bengaluru Budget

Bengaluru, Feb 25 (PTI) Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Tuesday said that party lawmakers from Bengaluru will meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on February 28 to seek a larger allocation of funds for the city in the upcoming state budget.

Urging the government to hold the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls at the earliest, he also demanded that the proposed tunnel road project for the city be dropped, calling it "unscientific."

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At a meeting of party MLAs, MLCs, and MPs from Bengaluru, it was also decided to hold agitations in every Assembly segment of the city in the coming days, highlighting various issues.

"We have discussed the recent metro fare hike and decided to fight against it, demanding a reduction. Discussions also took place regarding issues faced by people concerning E-khata. Additionally, there is a conspiracy to postpone the BBMP elections under the pretence of creating the Greater Bengaluru Authority. This should not be allowed, and the government should immediately conduct the BBMP polls," Vijayendra said.

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Speaking to reporters after the meeting with party lawmakers from Bengaluru, he stated that the government is unable to even fill potholes yet is talking about implementing the tunnel road project.

"The government should drop the tunnel road project and instead focus on adding more Metro rail bogies and exploring other ways to reduce traffic congestion in Bengaluru," the state BJP chief said.

This "unscientific" tunnel road project should be scrapped. We have discussed several such issues concerning Bengaluru city, he added.

All party MPs, MLAs, and MLCs from Bengaluru will meet the Chief Minister, who is also the Finance Minister, on February 28 to submit a memorandum seeking a greater allocation for the city's development in the budget, he added.

Vijayendra, while urging a rollback of the Metro fare hike, stated that the hike was not implemented by the central government, and accused the Congress government of unnecessarily indulging in a "blame game."

He also reiterated the demand for immediate BBMP polls.

The delay in the BBMP elections is believed to be due to the government's plan to restructure the city's civic body and create a Greater Bengaluru Authority.

In July last year, the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill was referred to a joint select committee headed by Shivajinagar Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad. The committee submitted its report to Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Monday.

According to the report, the IT city may be divided into multiple corporations, replacing the BBMP, which will report to a central body known as the Greater Bengaluru Authority, official sources said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)