Karnataka Cabinet clears bill to speed up Bengaluru civic polls
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Cabinet has approved the Greater Bengaluru Governance (Amendment) Bill, 2025 which will pave way for the preparation of voter lists for each of the city’s five newly formed corporations and facilitate an early conduct of elections.
The proposed legislation is to be introduced in the State legislature’s monsoon session beginning August 11. It will seek to compile electoral rolls under the guidance and supervision of the State Election Commission (SEC) for the Central, North, East, West and South corporations, which differ in size, population and density.
The bill was passed after the formal establishment of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) on May 15, 2025, which replaced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024. The amendment will also make minor word substitutions to the original Act to enhance clarity and assist in demarcating boundaries between the corporations.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil said the changes are aimed at expediting the completion of electoral rolls and conducting polls in all five corporations at the earliest.
The Supreme Court has directed the State government to strictly follow its stated timeline, completing ward delimitation and issuing the final notification by November 1, 2025. The SEC, in an additional affidavit, informed the court it would require 60 to 90 days after the notification to finalise voter lists. The matter will be reviewed by the court on November 3, 2025.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
