Published May 20, 2026 | 1:10 PM ⚊ Updated May 20, 2026 | 1:11 PM
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) released the final electoral roll for 369 wards in April.
Synopsis: The Supreme Court has extended the deadline to hold Bengaluru’s long-pending local body elections to 31 August. The order follows an appeal by the state government and the State Election Commission seeking an additional three months beyond the earlier 30 June deadline, citing difficulties in holding the polls alongside the ongoing national census exercise, revision of electoral rolls, and SSLC and PUC examinations.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 20 May, extended the deadline it had earlier set to hold the long-pending local body elections in Bengaluru to 31 August.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi said the extension would be the final opportunity and that no further extensions would be granted.
In January this year, the apex court set a deadline of 30 June to conduct elections to the five municipal corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), the successor to the now-defunct Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
In a petition dated 10 May, the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) sought an additional three months from 30 June to complete the election process, citing difficulties in holding the elections alongside the ongoing national census exercise, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and SSLC and PUC board examinations, among others.
The SEC told the court that preliminary steps had already been taken to conduct the elections in line with its 12 January order. On 18 April, the Greater Bengaluru Authority released the final electoral roll for 369 wards across the five city corporations, putting the electorate at 88,95,361. With the publication of the rolls, the elections could technically have been held within 45 days.
The extension is likely to prolong bureaucratic control of Bengaluru, which has been without an elected civic council since 2020, when the term of the last elected council of the erstwhile BBMP ended.
Since then, bureaucrats, with tacit support of state legislators, have administered the city of more than 1.3 crore people. The arrangement has drawn criticism over limited public accountability as civic issues persist.
The delay comes even as political parties and citizen groups have begun mobilising ahead of the long-pending civic polls.
Also Read: Why Karnataka has decided to move away from EVMs for upcoming civic polls
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
