Dakshina Kannada unit of the BJP president Satish Kumpala addressing a press conference at the BJP party office, in Mangaluru on Friday.

| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH

The BJP, on Friday, urged the new Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, to hold local body elections in the State.Addressing press persons here, Satish Kumpala, president, Dakshina Kannada unit of the BJP, said that many city corporations, including Mangaluru, and other urban local bodies, gram panchayats, and zilla and taluk panchayats are looking to hold elections following the expiry of the term of elected councils.With the change in leadership in the government, Mr. Shivakumar should hasten the process of conducting these elections, he said.Mr. Kumpala said that many local bodies are yet to receive the 15th Finance Commission grant, as the State has not held elections. Meanwhile, some gram panchayats have not yet submitted fund utilisation certificates to the government.Old wine in new bottleAt the same time, Mr. Kumpala said the change of guard appears to be an “old wine in a new bottle”.He alleged that the administration of the Congress government in the State, over the last three years, has been marred by corruption, hate politics, and the appeasement of minorities.“The BJP hopes that Mr. Shivakumar’s tenure will be free of hate politics,” he said.Mapping under SIRWhen asked about Dakshina Kannada recording only 88% progress in the mapping of voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Mr. Kumpala said that the district administration should have taken political parties into confidence during the process of mapping. It also raises a question whether the Booth Level Officers are really working efficiently, he said.Planting saplingsMr. Kumpala said that the BJP workers will plant at least one sapling in each of the 1,876 booths in Dakshina Kannada until June 22 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s milestone as India’s longest-serving Prime Minister. On June 10, he will overtake Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure as the country’s longest-serving elected leader.The workers have been told that they can plant any number of native saplings in the jurisdiction of each booth.The BJP’s national general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agarwal will attend a function to be organised by the party in Mangaluru on June 13 to celebrate the milestone, he said. Published - June 05, 2026 07:07 pm IST