Parties in tizzy with two polls in three months

Bangalore: Political parties in Karnataka are in for a double whammy this summer - elections to urban local bodies in March and the state assembly before May. Elections to 208 urban local bodies, except the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or Greater Bangalore City Corporation, are to be held March 7.

The code of conduct prohibiting the government from announcing schemes that can sway voters came into effect from Friday (Feb 15). Counting is on March 11. Elections to the 225-member Karnataka assembly, which includes a nominated member, are due in May.

Political parties, mainly the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have to blame themselves for the piquant situation as polls to the local bodies were overdue. Elections to seven city corporations, 44 city municipal councils, 93 town municipalities and 65 town panchayats were to be held by December last year.

The elections were not held because the government failed to provide an updated reservation list based on the 2011 census.
The total number of people to be elected to these bodies is 4,976.