The Supreme Court has extended the deadline for holding the Bengaluru civic body elections till August 31. The elections were initially scheduled to be held by June 30, but the court has granted a two to three month extension due to the shortage of manpower caused by the Census work and the upcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The tenure of the earlier elected body for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) expired on September 10, 2020, and since then a government-appointed administrator has been taking care of its day-to-day affairs.
The court has made it clear that no further extension will be granted, and has asked the Karnataka government to activate its machinery to hold the polls. The government had challenged the high court's order directing the State Election Commission to hold BBMP elections expeditiously after finalising the electoral rolls.
The upcoming elections will be held for 369 wards across five corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area, an increase of 171 wards from the previous civic body polls.
