Bengaluru:  The Karnataka High Court has directed the government to complete the BBMP election process by May 31st, putting its plans of delaying them by six months into a tail spin. Consequently, they are now contemplating an ordinance  trifurcate the civic body as one of its strategies to delay the polls.

After the cabinet meet on Saturday, at which only 10 Ministers were present,  a senior minister  said that some ministers objected to the move saying they are likely to attract the wrath of the high command since the Congress has been vehemently opposing the NDA government’s ordinance Raj.

Subsequently, the government cancelled media briefing on the cabinet decisions fearing the wrath of the Congress high command and the Karnataka high court. The government has been asked by the court to submit reservations list by April 13 to take a call on when to hold BMP elections. “Since the issue is under legal scrutiny, the government decided not to make the discussions public,” the minister said.

In the cabinet meeting, sources said, some ministers sought to know the implications of the court order and possible solutions. One of the suggestions was to promulgate an ordinance to trifurcate BBMP and delay the poll process. Another minister said members of B-PAC, which has been pushing for five-way split of BBMP, had told them that they were approaching the court, requesting to postpone the elections because they were concerned about uneven distribution of voters among wards. While some wards had 20,000 voters, some have up to 70,000 voters, the minister said quoting a discussion between CM and with B-PAC members.

Siddaramaiah reportedly told the B-PAC members that the government could not be party to it, but would not object if they went to court on their own.