Karnataka's Greater Bengaluru Governance Act Takes Effect, Creating Five Municipal Corporations

Key facts

• The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, came into force in Karnataka on 15 May 2025, replacing the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 2020.
• The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) was created as the apex body under the new framework and was constituted on 26 August 2025.
• The GBA is chaired ex officio by the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and the Deputy Chief Minister is its ex officio Vice-Chairman.
• The final notification of 2 September 2025 dissolved the unified BBMP and divided Bengaluru into five municipal corporations: Bengaluru Central, Bengaluru East, Bengaluru West, Bengaluru North, and Bengaluru South.
• The five municipal corporations together contain 369 wards and function under the supervision of the GBA.
• The Greater Bengaluru Governance (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by the Karnataka Legislative Council on 21 August 2025, clarified that the GBA would not affect the constitutional and financial powers of the local city corporations.
• The Greater Bengaluru Governance (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, received the Governor's assent on 6 January 2026 and expanded the GBA to include the Chief Secretary, other senior civil servants, and local MPs, MLAs, and MLCs.
• On 17 July 2026, the Supreme Court extended the deadline for municipal elections for the five corporations from 31 August 2026 to 31 December 2026.
• On 24 August 2026, GBA Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao released the draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
• The draft electoral roll listed 56,99,660 voters and placed more than 46.88 lakh voters in the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others category.