Siddaramaiah yet to take a call on JD(S) opposition to BBMP trifurcation

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is yet to take a call on JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda’s demand to drop the idea of trifurcating BBMP if he wants JD(S) support in Bengaluru mayoral polls to be held on September 11.

Sources close to CM told DC that Mr Siddaramaiah had just heard about it (Gowda's demand) and he would decide only after consulting senior ministers. In fact, Mr Siddaramaiah was interested in dividing BBMP into three or four smaller corporations for better administration and also got a report about this from an experts panel headed by former chief secretary B.S. Patil. Agreeing to Mr Gowda’s demand means putting the BBMP division on hold as long as they required the support of JD(S).

At this juncture, Gowda’s diktat against BBMP division made Congress leaders jittery. From the beginning, State JD(S) president H.D. Kumaraswamy had been opposing the idea of dividing BBMP.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister R Ramalinga Reddy, claimed that as far as he knew Mr Gowda did not put forth any condition before KPCC President Dr G. Parameshwar when the latter met him at his residence in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

“Did he (Gowda) tell you that such a condition has been put?”, he shot back. “At present, no such condition has been made. We will think about it if Mr Kumaraswamy says it when he meets Dr Parameshwar in a day or two”.

Meanwhile, Mr Siddaramaiah went to State Planning Board Chairman C.M. Ibrahim's house and dined with him Wednesday night. It was not known whether the CM discussed the conditions put by Mr Deve Gowda.