It has been 11 years since Bengaluru’s last municipal council was elected. Meanwhile, the coalition helming the Karnataka government changed in 2023 and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahasabha Palike (BBMP) metamorphosed into the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) in 2025 to include five corporations and 369 wards. Delimitation was conducted and reservation was notified, too. This February, the Supreme Court ordered that the municipal election be held before June 30, with a tentative dateline between June 14 and 24. Yet, it remains jinxed. In a new twist to the saga, the State Election Commission has gone to court claiming it is burdened by the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and census work, and sought a three-month deferment. On their part, GBA officials have cited the monsoon, examinations and staff shortage to seek a delay.
This would vex the civic organisations and resident welfare associations that are increasingly wary of unelected administrators running the GBA, with the chief minister and his deputy holding charge. Much water has flowed under the legal bridge ever since citizens took up the matter at the high court in 2020. In 2022, the Supreme Court asked the government to complete the delimitation process for BBMP and set the poll ball rolling. Over three years, the election was put off on one pretext or another. Now the SIR complicates matters further. As per the rolls released in April, the GBA had 88,95,361 voters, but that count will surely be revised by the SIR. Given this, the SEC appears justified in seeking more time to conduct a fair election.
For the government, any deferment comes as a breather, as more potholes can be covered up, greater road lengths tarred, drains and garbage cleared, and flyovers thrown open to give the city a quick shine. Though citizens largely view the government’s ‘Brand Bengaluru’ promise as unfulfilled, party strategists have been offering ideas on issues like mobility, waste management and water supply. At stake is a region that has traditionally voted BJP, which won 16 of the city’s 28 Assembly seats in 2023, and all the four Lok Sabha seats in 2024. Whoever wins the corporations will get a fillip for their 2028 ambitions. Hopefully, in the bargain, the citizens will get a cleaner, better managed metropolis.
