SC sets ball rolling for B'luru civic polls; orders delimitation by Nov 1
(SC) on Monday issued the go-ahead for polls to the five newly-created municipal corporations in Bengaluru — in place of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) — to ensure better civic amenities in the metropolis.
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The state govt has also been told to complete the delimitation exercise by Nov 1, 2025.
BBMP has been divided into five smaller corporations -- Bengaluru North, West, South, East and Central.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi ruled that when the population has been estimated by the state to have increased from 84 lakh in 2011 to 144 lakh in 2025, there is a need for carrying out delimitation exercise, based on which, the State Election Commission (SEC) can finalise the electoral rolls.
Appearing for the state, senior advocate A M Singhvi and state advocate general Shashi Kiran Shetty said the delimitation process would be carried out between Sept 3 and Nov 1, when the final notification on ward delimitation will be published. They said final notification on ward reservation will be published on Nov 30.
The SEC, through senior advocate K N Phanindra, had told the court that EC could not hold elections to the five new municipal corporations in Bengaluru unless the state notified the 'Conduct of Election Rules'.
Responding to it, Shetty told the court that the state would notify the relevant rules within a week.
The SC told SEC to proceed with finalisation of the voters' list for the civic bodies immediately after finalisation of the delimitation process and to complete the process in 60-90 days.
The court has posted further hearing on Nov 3.
SEC said in its affidavit it would require "60 to 90 days after issuance of final notification of delimitation by the state govt for preparation and finalising electoral rolls/voters' list for the five newly-constituted city corporations".
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In its additional affidavit, the state govt stated August 18, 2025, is the last date for submission of objections/suggestions with regard to the proposal to establish the five new city corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area.
The 15-day period for considering objections/suggestions will end on September 2, 2025.
WARD QUOTA POST NOV
* Previous elections to 198-ward BBMP on Aug 25, 2015; council's term ended on Sept 10, 2020
* BBMP polls held in 2001, 2010 and 2015; IAS officers running corpn from 2020
* In April 2015, BBMP superseded over corruption charges; TM Vijayabhaskar appointed administrator for brief period
* DyCM DK Shivakumar says wards of all five corporations will be identified and reservations announced post Nov
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