Bengaluru: Upset over how the BBMP ward committees appear to have been hijacked by the cronies of councillors, residents gathered outside the Town Hall on Friday to sign a petition asking the BBMP to redraft the names on ward committees. Another group of citizens associated with Citizens for Bengaluru filed 65 RTI applications at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike office in the evening.

Volunteers from Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) and other citizens who had applied to become members of ward committees but were not selected filed RTIs seeking to know what the process of selection had been.

Members of Lanchamukta Karnataka Nimrana Vedike (LKMV) have written to the BBMP Commissioner asking him to revise the 131 finalized lists to include names of eligible citizen-applicants and also add citizen-applicants’ names into the 67 committees yet to be formed.

"We also want the BBMP to remove the names of spouses, family members, friends and party workers of councillors who have made it to the WCs, in order to ensure accountability in WCs," said Narendra Kumar, Joint Secretary of LKMV.