Brand Bangalore being Bangalored?

Is the Karnataka government destroying Brand Bangalore for short-term political gains?

Like several city corporations, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP or the Greater Bengaluru City Corporation) is grossly mismanaged and fails to deliver even the most basic necessities such as roads, drinking water and sanitation to citizens.
Bad roads, non-existent pavements, piled-up garbage, inadequate drinking water and rampant corruption are only some of the woes that citizens of the city, grandiosely described as the Silicon Valley of India, suffer from.

Also, rapid growth of the city in the last decade, with population doubling to more than 10 million, has meant that infrastructure has not kept pace as the BBMP failed to deliver. The city accounts for nearly one-third of the country's IT exports. Its prowess in IT exports has meant that 'Bangalored' (or jobs being outsourced to India) has entered popular lexicon. So, one would assume that any measure to improve the BBMP's working and enhance accountability would be welcomed.

Alas, the short-sighted and politically motivated steps being taken by the state government, in the guise of improving the BBMP's working, have come in for severe criticism not just by political opponents but even politically neutral citizens. Chief Minister S. Siddaramiah's move to trifurcate the city is driven purely by political expediency. The reasons are not far to seek.
Karnataka is the last major state where the Congress is in power. While the Congress wields power in states like Assam and Uttarakhand too, Karnataka, with its 28 Lok Sabha seats, is crucial to long-term future of the party. It is understandably keen to cement its hold on power here. The BBMP is one of the richest civic bodies and the party ruling the state would naturally want it under its control.

However, the BBMP is currently ruled by the BJP. By dividing Bangalore into East, West and Central, and naming them for B.R. Ambedkar, Kempe Gowda and Sangoli Rayanna, the Congress hopes to break the BJP's 15-year-hold on the city civic body. Even when the Congress swept the Assembly polls in 2013, the city was an exception as the BJP got a significant chunk of seats from the city.

The move to trifurcate the civic body, says the state government, will ensure a more responsive administrative mechanism. Right now, outlying and newly developed areas contribute significant taxes but get few facilities as the older and more developed areas benefit, says the state government. The division will increase the local focus, says Siddaramiah.

Political opponents, including the outgoing mayor, say the move is to gerrymander constituencies and prevent opposition from getting majority. Also, the Congress hopes to get elections postponed by one year if the move succeeds. Otherwise, the polls will have to be held by May 30, as directed by the high court. In spite of being in power in the state, the Congress managed to win only nine out of 28 seats in last year's Lok Sabha elections, with 17 going to the BJP, including three out of the four seats in the city.

Thus, the city is witnessing the strange situation of the state's ruling party being more nervous about facing elections than the BJP, which is weighed down by 15 years of incumbency and which does not even have a great record of managing the city body well. The state government first tried to take the ordinance route to supersede the civic body. The ordinance was sent back by the governor, which is when the state government decided to call a special session to pass a Bill. Though the Siddaramaiah government may succeed in getting the Bill passed in the lower house, it does not have a majority in the upper house. So, the move might still be stymied.

Even as political parties slug it out to gain advantage, concerns of several leading citizens of the city is that trifurcation might not just add more layers of bureaucracy, but more important, destroy Brand Bangalore. While state governments of all political hues have contributed to the growth of the city, the present government's short-sighted move may do irreparable damage to the city's brand equity, built over decades. Citizens will be hoping that Bangalore does not get Bangalored.