Bengaluru civic polls to be held between June 14-24: State election commissioner
Bengaluru has been without an elected civic body since 2020. The polls will be held for 369 wards in the city, with voting using ballot papers.
Earlier, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections were held for 198 seats but after the formation of the GBA, the polls will be held for 369 wards in the city. (File Photo) Elections to all five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will be held between June 14 and 24 this year, Karnataka State Election Commissioner G S Sangreshi said on Friday. He dismissed any possibility of postponement, citing Supreme Court directives requiring a compliance report on the conduct of polls by June 30.
Bengaluru has been without an elected civic body since 2020. The last civic elections in the city were held in August 2015. Since then, elections have been delayed due to legal issues and governance restructuring, and government-appointed administrators have been overseeing the functioning of the civic authority.
Earlier, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections were held for 198 seats but after the formation of the GBA, the polls will be held for 369 wards in the city. As announced earlier, voting will be conducted using ballot papers rather than electronic voting machines.
Sangreshi said that the process of determining the poll schedule had begun, and a meeting was convened. “The SEC communicated with the state government and sought inputs from the GBA…The views of all city corporations were taken into consideration before scheduling the polls. The commission is fully prepared to hold the elections,” he said.
During the meeting, GBA officials tried to convince the Election Commission to postpone the elections, citing the onset of monsoon, ongoing examinations, the Census exercise, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, limited staff availability, and potential natural disruptions. However, the SEC dismissed these concerns, noting that they had already been communicated in an earlier letter. Sangreshi pointed out that the Supreme Court had issued no new directives, and therefore the Commission would adhere to the existing orders.
He clarified that the meeting was convened only to finalise the election timeline and not to discuss extending the deadline or other issues. As per the Supreme Court’s directions, he said that there was no room for deferment, and the SEC lacks the authority to alter the schedule unilaterally.
The State Election Commission is likely to issue the final schedule in a week.
The GBA has announced a total electorate of approximately 88.95 lakh voters across 369 wards, with around 45.7 lakh men, 43.2 lakh women, and 1,635 others.
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