BENGALURU: The state government on Tuesday issued a notification creating the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which will come into effect from 2 September 2025.
As per the notification, the GBA will have 75 members, headed by the Chief Minister as its chairman and the Deputy Chief Minister as the vice-chairman. The GBA will also have two central ministers as ex officio members — Nirmala Sitharaman and Shoba Karandlaje.
The existing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), along with its relevant Acts, will cease to exist from 2 September. As per the notification issued on 26 August, there will be 75 members, including two central ministers.
The Chief Commissioner of BBMP will become the Chief Commissioner of the GBA. Ministers from Bengaluru, including R Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda, K J George, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and Byrathi Suresh, along with four Lok Sabha members representing Bengaluru City and five Rajya Sabha members, including Nirmala Sitharaman and Jairam Ramesh — representing Karnataka and having Bengaluru as their nodal office — have been added as ex officio members of the GBA.
The list also includes 11 Members of the Legislative Council, among them the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's son Dr Yathindra, and all Bengaluru City MLAs.
Apart from these names, heads of other parastatal agencies such as the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) Managing Director, Director of Urban Land Transport, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) Director, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board Chairman, and Commissioners of the five corporations — Bengaluru Central, North, East, West and South — along with the Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner, Town Planning Chief and Chief Engineer of the GBA will also be ex officio members.
Once elections are held for these corporations and mayors are elected, they too will be added as ex officio members of the GBA, the notification stated.
With the announcement of the GBA team, the government is setting the tone for the much-anticipated election in Bengaluru, which has been without an elected body since 10 September 2020.
Meanwhile, at the existing BBMP central building, the meeting hall on the ground floor is being upgraded and is believed to be the office for the Bengaluru Central Mayor.
Recently, the Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Bengaluru is entering a new era of governance from September 2 as the Greater Bengaluru Authority comes into force. Five new corporations with dedicated commissioners will bring administration closer to the people. With this decentralisation, our city will witness faster development and smoother lives for the people."
What next?
According to Rizwan Arshad, Chairman of the Joint Legislature Panel on Greater Bengaluru Governance, the delimitation commission will begin the demarcation of wards as per population, including objections and suggestions. This process will be completed in 45 days and submitted to the Election Commission on 1 November.
"All this exercise is being done to tell the government is serious about holding elections to Bengaluru City Corporation," he said.