A general view of Bengaluru.
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Bengaluru is more than just a city. It is India’s innovation capital, a hub of global talent, and the biggest driver of economic growth in South India. With the right leadership, it could set an example for urban governance and sustainable planning. However, a lack of vision, efficiency, and accountability in governance has severely impacted its infrastructure, mobility, and liveability. Instead of addressing these pressing concerns with smart urban planning, the Karnataka government has proposed the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill (GBG Bill)—a move that will create confusion, weaken local governance, and hinder Bengaluru’s long-term progress.
The Congress-led Karnataka government’s GBG Bill is a politically motivated attempt to centralise power, undermining local governance and democratic decentralisation. Far from improving governance, the bill erodes the autonomy of Bengaluru’s elected representatives and paves the way for bureaucratic overreach. It violates the principles of the 74th Amendment to the Constitution, which empowers urban local bodies to legislate and execute laws on municipal matters.
At the heart of this bill is the proposed Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), a bureaucratic superstructure controlled by the chief minister and the Bengaluru development minister. This body, along with a committee of bureaucrats and politicians, will take over the key decision-making power from local corporators. Instead of empowering the directly elected BBMP representatives, the bill reduces them to mere spectators while handing control to MLAs and bureaucrats.
The KMC Act, 1976, and BBMP Act, 2020, had granted corporators authority over infrastructure, development, and civic amenities in consultation with ward committees. Under the GBG Bill, MLAs will have overriding control, opening the door to political interference and favouritism in local governance.
Bengaluru already has a constitutionally mandated Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) responsible for regional coordination, infrastructure planning, and sustainable development. Instead of empowering the MPC, the GBG Bill seeks to create an unconstitutional parallel structure—the GBA—without any elected accountability. A well-functioning MPC can ensure better coordination between urban agencies, state departments, and local bodies. Rather than adding an unnecessary bureaucratic layer, the government should strengthen the MPC, integrate technology-driven planning solutions, and promote community-driven decision-making.
The GBG Bill will further complicate Bengaluru’s financial structure, leading to project delays and a lack of fiscal clarity. One of its major flaws is the proposal to split BBMP into multiple corporations, ranging from three to ten separate entities. This would require each corporation to have its own administrative setup and budget, leading to duplication of expenses and wasted taxpayer money. The GBA would control financial allocations, reducing local governments’ autonomy. The bill provides no clarity on how revenue collection will be managed across the multiple corporations—creating a recipe for financial mismanagement.
A bill with such far-reaching consequences demands rigorous public debate and consultation, yet the Congress government has deliberately manipulated the process to push it through without transparency. The draft bill was released just two days before the start of public consultations, which lasted only three days, giving citizens barely any time to respond.
The revised draft was not released, meaning citizens were consulted on an outdated version while the actual amendments remain hidden from public scrutiny. There has been zero transparency on which draft will be sent to the legislature. This is not governance—it is a deliberate suppression of public opinion.
Real challenges ignored
Instead of focusing on core urban issues, the GBG Bill ignores Bengaluru’s most pressing challenges. It offers no comprehensive strategy to tackle the city’s notorious congestion. Instead of empowering the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA), it creates an additional bureaucratic structure.
The bill also lacks a roadmap for water conservation, flood management, or ecological preservation. Bengaluru’s unplanned growth has led to rampant violations of zoning laws and inadequate infrastructure. The bill fails to provide a regional master plan or enforce better urban planning policies.
At its core, the GBG Bill is a political manoeuvre by the Congress government to consolidate control over Bengaluru’s governance. Knowing that it lacks electoral support in Bengaluru, Congress is attempting to install an unelected body to oversee financial allocations and urban development projects. This will lead to corruption, inefficiency, and a governance model that prioritises political interests over citizen needs.
The GBG Bill is a step in the wrong direction. We must reject this flawed bill and instead push for genuine, well-planned urban reforms that will truly make Bengaluru a liveable and well-governed city.
Delhi’s municipal corporation was split into three bodies in 2012 to improve governance, only to be reunified in 2022 due to financial imbalances and administrative inefficiencies. Bengaluru should learn from this mistake, limiting the municipal zones to three or four instead of 10, ensuring financial autonomy while maintaining a unified oversight body for better inter-zone coordination. Hyderabad, meanwhile, has successfully implemented urban planning through the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), ensuring structured infrastructure growth and long-term city planning.
Bengaluru should empower the MPC to oversee city-wide projects, regulate zoning, and prevent haphazard urban sprawl. A regional approach to mobility, housing, and infrastructure planning can ensure sustainable growth, better traffic management, and efficient land use, creating a city that is both liveable and future-ready.
We demand the full implementation of the BBMP Act 2020 and the empowerment of ward committees and corporators. The future of Bengaluru should be shaped by its people, planners, and elected representatives, not by politically motivated bureaucratic structures. Bengaluru belongs to its citizens.
(The writer is a Member of Parliament, representing Bangalore South in the Lok Sabha)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.