BENGALURU: Bengaluru’s wait for elected representatives in its city corporations will continue after the Supreme Court on Friday extended the deadline for completing elections to the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) until December 31, 2026. The latest extension came after the state government informed the court that a large number of officials are currently engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and that conducting civic polls alongside the exercise would be difficult. Taking note of the submission, the apex court granted the state four more months to complete the election process. This is the second extension granted by the court this year. The elections were initially required to be completed by June 30, following directions issued by the Supreme Court. The deadline was later extended to August 31 after the state sought additional time, citing administrative constraints. With Friday’s order, the election process must now be completed by the end of December. The elections are to be held for the five city corporations created under the GBA framework, which replaced the erstwhile BBMP structure as part of Bengaluru’s civic governance overhaul. The new system envisages decentralised administration through five corporations covering 369 wards across the city. The latest development comes months after the Karnataka State Election Commission (SEC) said key preparatory work for the polls had already been completed, including the publication of the final electoral rolls for all 369 wards. The poll body also maintained that it had not independently sought a postponement and that only the election schedule remained to be announced. With the deadline now extended until December, Bengaluru will continue without elected representatives in its urban local bodies for a longer period, extending a gap that has already lasted several years because of delimitation exercises, legal challenges and the transition to the GBA governance model.
