GBG (Amendment) Bill passes Council test, Dy CM Shivakumar says no government interference

BENGALURU: The Greater Bengaluru Governance (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed in the Legislative Council on Thursday. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, tabled the bill. The Upper House passed it after a brief discussion. The bill was passed in the Assembly a few days ago. Speaking after tabling the bill, Shivakumar said that the amendment clarifies that the Greater Bengaluru Authority will not interfere in the functioning of the corporations in violation of the 74th Amendment of the Constitution. Different parties will be in power in the government and corporations. This amendment ensures that the government doesnt have any overbearing power on the corporations, he said. Some people have talked about ward restructuring based on population. As per the 2011 census, there were about 18,000 people in each ward, but now it would be 35,000. We will take members feedback when we are adding new areas to the corporations, Shivakumar assured the House. Earlier, member HS Gopinath said that a few wards in Mahadevapura and Yesvantpur were divided among two new corporations leading to confusion and sought its rectification. He, however, did not raise any objection leading to smooth passage of the bill. The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, came into effect on May 15. Accordingly, the government decided to constitute five city corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area: Bengaluru West City Corporation, Bengaluru South City Corporation, Bengaluru North City Corporation, Bengaluru East City Corporation, and Bengaluru Central City Corporation. The Act also provides for the constitution of a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) for coordination and a 30-month term for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The GBA would be headed by the CM as the ex-officio chairperson, and the minister in charge of development of Bengaluru would be the ex-officio vice-chairperson.