The last election for the Bengaluru City Corporation was held in 2015. The term of the then-elected corporators ended in September 2020. Since then, several factors have contributed to the prolonged delay in holding fresh elections:
1. Splitting of BBMP and Formation of 'GBA'
There has been a long-standing disagreement between the previous BJP government and the current Congress government regarding the administrative structure of Bengaluru. The Congress government decided to split Bengaluru into five separate city corporations, arguing that managing the city as a single entity was inefficient. To facilitate this, the 'Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Bill' was introduced. The legal and structural processes involved in setting up this new system have caused significant delays.
2. Ward Delimitation Process
As Bengaluru's population grew, the process of redrawing ward boundaries and changing the number of wards became a major hurdle:
Initially, there were 198 wards.The BJP government increased this number to 243.
The current Congress government decided to reduce it again to 225. These repeated changes to the number of wards and their geographical boundaries hindered the Election Commission's ability to proceed.
3. OBC Reservation Controversy
The Supreme Court mandated a 'Triple Test' to determine the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in local body elections. The 'Justice Bhaktavatsala Committee' was formed to decide the reservation percentage. Legal battles over the submission of this report and alleged flaws within it led to the elections being postponed for years.
4. COVID-19 Pandemic
When elections were originally due in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. The government cited the emergency situation to postpone the polls. In the following years, lockdowns and the focus on economic recovery kept the elections off the government's immediate priority list.
5. Political Interests and Legal Battles
Power Dynamics: There have been allegations that ruling parties (across different tenures) deliberately delayed elections until they could produce a reservation list favorable to them or until the political climate was advantageous.
Litigation: Frequently, as soon as a delimitation or reservation list was released, leaders from various parties would challenge it in court, calling it 'unscientific.' This resulted in hundreds of petitions in the High Court and Supreme Court, leading to stay orders.
6. BBMP Act-2020
A dedicated 'BBMP Act-2020' was implemented specifically for Bengaluru. Formulating new rules under this Act and preparing for elections based on its provisions required substantial time.
The Supreme Court has now issued a strict directive, setting a deadline to mandatorily conduct the elections by June 30, 2026. Consequently, the government is now compelled to finalize the reservation lists and complete all election preparations.