Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the BBMP Padmanabha Reddy met Chief Secretary Subash Chandra Kuntia, seeking his intervention against a government order which if implemented, he said, will give more powers to BBMP officials than elected representative.
Mr Reddy, in a letter presented to the chief secretary, stated, “I have served the BBMP by getting elected as a corporator four times. I have keenly observed the functioning of the BBMP and its council for the last two decades. I have watched the devolution of powers by the state to the BBMP as per 74th Amendment.”
Pointing out that Article 243W mandates the state legislature may endow local bodies with such powers so as to enable them to function as 'institutions of self government', Mr Reddy said, “The government order is contrary to the provisions of Karnataka Transparency in Procurement Act and can remove elected representatives from decision-making process and will not enable BBMP to function as an institution of self government.” He requested the chief secretary to take immediate measures to withdraw the government order.
