Civic Budget prepared in BJP office

City party chief accepts that budget for the silicon city was prepared in the party office at Malleshwaram; the 42-page booklet even looks like a BJP manifesto and is printed in saffron colour

Civic Budget prepared in BJP office

City party chief accepts that budget for the silicon city was prepared in the party office at Malleshwaram; the 42-page booklet even looks like a BJP manifesto and is printed in saffron colour

The BBMP finally managed to table the annual budget after months of criticism over the delay in preparation. However, now another embarrassment is looming on the horizon, which came to light after a 'thank you message' was printed in their budget booklet.

Finally! Mayor Sharadamma with Deputy Mayor Harish and Chairman,
Finance and Taxation Standing Committee Manjunath Raju arrives at
the BBMP office to present the much-awaited budget

The 42-page booklet has come under scrutiny and criticism and MiD DAY brings out the actual nature of the budget and divulges how the state BJP party has been calling the shots within the BBMP. The booklet contains all the details of the budget this year along with a message from G Manjunath Raju, chairman of the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance.

The budget booklet

The chairman overlooked thanking the Prime Minister and the Central government for the JNNURM funds, and also ignored 198 elected corporators, who work for the department.u00a0 Even the senior officials, who toiled hard for years within the department were not mentioned -- but the prompt thank you note was issued to the city BJP President Subbanarasimha and Bangalore district BJP President Sachidananda Murthy.

Saffron budget?u00a0Apparently looks like the party manifesto of the
BJP. Pics/Ramesh HS

When MiD DAY sought to investigate whether the BJP really had power and control in tabling the budget this year, some rather amusing facts came to light.

Political infestation
The budget for this financial year came up to Rs 9,169 crore and the budget booklet looks like a BJP manifesto with the party colours painted across the pages. As per the rules, the official document of the budget should be in black letters on white paper. This booklet does not adhere to the rules and is in serious violation of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act. Padmanabha Reddy, opposition leader in the council launched a scathing attack while bringing up the topic.

"This budget copy is a BJP party manifesto, and it is like serving Desi Daru in a imported bottle. The previous budget was dubious and the budget for this financial year is just a copy paste of that," he said. Highlighting the names of BJP leaders and omitting the names of central leadership also has left the Congress group agitated.

"Nowhere in the history of the palike have names of leaders, other than elected representatives, figured. But now, two prominent names have come up. This indicates that the budget was prepared outside the institution," said Uday Shankar, opposition leader in the council.

In the works?
When franky questioned,u00a0u00a0 Subbanarasimha accepted involvement in preparing the budget. "I suggested the council to take up road-widening projects and the brainstorming for the budget and its preparation were done in the BJP office at Malleshwaram," he said. The budget this year is a complete rip-off from last year's budget and apart from a special housing scheme initiated for the backward classes and providing a medical kit to the BBMP school kids, there is nothing new.

The big, fat BBMP budget
* Rs 719 crore for the uplifting poorer section
* Rs 250 crore for flyovers and underpass construction
* Rs 483 crore subsidy to encourage self-employment, assistance of higher education vocational training and sports activity in BBMP schools and college
* Rs 121 crore to revamp the lakes
* Rs 419 crore for storm water drains under the JNNURM
* Rs 25 crore for solid waste management and handling and for marriage halls and hotels
* Rs 1,500 grant for corporation from CM is not yet announced
Total outlay: Rs 9,169 crore