Bengaluru civic polls unlikely this year; govt to file affidavit in SC
Civic agency polls, overdue since Sept 2020, are now set to be pushed into 2026 owing to the complex exercise of dividing the city into five new municipal corporations and creating fresh ward boundaries.
The state govt, in its submission to the Supreme Court Monday, said it needs time till Nov 1 to complete delimitation and formation of new wards in accordance with the GBG Act. The court, which scheduled the next hearing for Aug 4, has directed the govt to file an affidavit confirming its timeline commitment by then.
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"Our govt is keen on ensuring civic polls at the earliest, with the formation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which is for the greater good of the city," said deputy chief minister
DK Shivakumar
, who holds the Bengaluru development portfolio. "The decision on formation of GBA has been taken keeping in mind geographical, administrative and economic aspects. As far as civic elections are concerned, we will submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court very soon."
However, officials privately admit that even an early 2026 timeline is optimistic. The govt must finalise a reservation matrix for newly created wards after completing the delimitation of each of the five proposed corporations. Only then can the State Election Commission (SEC) begin work on electoral rolls.
"We have told the Supreme Court that we need three months to finalise electoral rolls," said GS Sangreshi, state election commissioner.
"We will begin the exercise soon after the govt completes the delimitation exercise for new wards. While the govt is committed to completing it by Nov, we expect it to file the affidavit accordingly. If it fails to keep this deadline, then we will think about filing a contempt suit against it in the apex court.
"
On July 18, the govt issued a draft notification to create five city corporations. Citizens have been invited to file objections or suggestions before Aug 18.
Officials said the urban development department will vet these responses till Sept 2, following which final notification will be issued. Each corporation will have 90 wards, with an average population of 30,000 per ward.
Despite the tight timelines, Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad, who headed a legislature committee on the GBG Bill, remains hopeful: "The govt has decided to work on a warfooting to complete all pending procedures before Nov. We will request the election commission to hold the polls by Dec. It is a herculean task, but I think it can be achieved."
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