That sinking feeling again: Bengaluru crumbles in rain, city without elected council for over 4 years

For more than four years, Bengaluru, a city known for its citizen activism, active civil society groups and online campaigns, has been without an elected council for its civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Roads turned into rivers, boats and tractors rescued stranded residents, submerged vehicles, flooded underpasses, motorists stranded on tech corridors for hours, and building collapses. The same old story haunted Bengaluru, the country’s tech and startup capital, after the recent rains as well.

For more than four years, Bengaluru, a city known for its citizen activism, active civil society groups and online campaigns, has been without an elected council for its civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

While the BBMP's state government-appointed bureaucrats blame the unprecedented rainfall, ministers have their excuses: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar points out that even Dubai faced floods, and Home Minister G Parameshwara remarked that they cannot send the water back to the skies when it rains, leaving citizens to fend for themselves.

In the absence of an elected mayor or corporators, the city council's monthly meetings—where elected members address ward-level issues, projects, and policies—are also not taking place. In February 2024, a Rs 12,369-crore BBMP budget for 2024-25 was presented by bureaucrats without any public consultation or discussion.

Also, read: 'Brand Bengaluru' caught between DK Shivakumar’s vanity projects and city's crumbling infra

As the city’s perennial issues—such as potholes, waterlogging, poor desilting work, garbage pile-ups, poorly lit street lights, and building violations—continue to mount, Bengalureans are missing the corporators who were more approachable and accessible than local MLAs or ward/zonal civic officials.

There are also complaints that civic issues lodged by citizens online are often closed without being resolved, as officials are not held accountable to the public. The last BBMP elections took place in 2015, and the council's term ended in September 2020.

With no elected council, BBMP is run by IAS officers. BBMP administrator SR Umashankar and BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath,  were both appointed by the state government. Both report to Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who is the Bengaluru development minister. Shivakumar is the elected representative of the Kanakapura assembly constituency, which is part of the Ramanagara district and was recently renamed Bengaluru South.

Bengaluru legislators not keen to conduct BBMP polls?

Sources say that MLAs in Bengaluru, irrespective of their political affiliations, are not keen on conducting BBMP polls because they fear it will create more "power centres." However, residents believe that ward corporators, as the first responders, are more accessible than local MLAs and can address civic issues better .

Activists and prominent citizens warn that traffic jams, flooding, and broken roads hurt Bengaluru’s brand value and discourage investors and global companies. Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai told Moneycontrol, "Democracy has been undermined by both the BJP and the Congress in Bengaluru, as neither seems interested in reviving the elected members of the city corporation for various reasons."

"The main issue is that without corporators, MLAs become more important and can prioritise their 'interests', which they previously had to 'share' with corporators. Recent flooding shows the disconnect between citizens and the government. We need corporators to address local issues, which MLAs cannot. It's disheartening, and we urge the government to restore democracy and hold elections immediately to improve governance,” Pai said.

Srinivas Alavilli, a civic activist, said, "Not having ward corporators is a huge problem for Bengaluru’s citizens because MLAs represent around 3 lakh people, whereas corporators serves around 50,000, giving them a better understanding of local issues. Moreover, MLAs are expected to work at the state government level to secure funds and drive policy changes, so they cannot effectively follow up on the daily civic issues across 7-8 wards."

Successive BJP and Congress-led state governments reportedly misused ward delimitation to delay polls. The previous BJP government proposed a new BBMP Act to increase the number of wards from 198 to 243, without changing the administrative structure. Under pressure to hold overdue elections in 2023, the Congress government introduced the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, which seeks to restructure the BBMP into smaller corporations and expand its boundaries. The bill is currently under review by a 14-member legislative committee.

Clement C Jayakumar, a former BBMP council member, said: "In Mahadevapura, the MLA constituted a task force to address civic issues. In other areas, coordination by the corporators is now lacking, impacting the speed at which projects can be completed and the prioritisation of issues."

He said that civic officers are frequently transferred. "They're there for one or two years, so they don’t understand local issues. All departmental coordination on the ground is currently missing."

The State Election Commission (SEC) recently said that if local body elections, such as the BBMP polls, are not held by March 2025, the state could lose a Rs 2,100-crore infrastructure development grant from the 15th Finance Commission.

Alavilli said monthly BBMP council meetings play a key role in bringing civic issues to the forefront and assigning priorities. "Not having a mayor, standing committees, council meetings, and ward committees leaves citizens without a voice in local governance."

Alavilli added, "Despite some criticism, corporators remain accessible and have long-standing relationships with residents and BBMP staff. This allows them to address local issues effectively. BBMP corporators play a crucial role in providing relief and support to vulnerable sections most affected by climate change, flooding, water shortages, and other issues."

BBMP elections by March 2025: Congress

GC Chandrashekar, a Rajya Sabha member and in-charge of the Bengaluru division of the Congress party, told Moneycontrol that the party is committed to holding BBMP elections before March 2025. "The government is planning to split the BBMP into smaller corporations. If the court issues an order to conduct elections immediately, we are prepared," said Chandrashekar.

"Bengaluru has grown significantly, and we cannot continue with old methods. The government is considering decentralising power to create 3-5 corporations. If the court grants permission, we will soon conduct polls," said Chandrashekar.

He admitted that some MLAs may worry that having corporators will diminish their power. "But I don't see it that way. As the Working President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), I believe holding these elections is essential. We are working on it. We have formed five committees, including former mayors and ex-party presidents, to prepare our party for the BBMP polls".

The BJP dominates Bengaluru, winning 16 of the 28 assembly seats and holding all three Lok Sabha seats. However, Congress leaders say that the implementation of poll guarantees may benefit them.

Faulty master plans

Sandeep Anirudhan, founder of Citizens' Agenda for Bengaluru, said that a city's development relies on proper planning and decentralisation. He pointed out that Bengaluru lacks planning capacity due to the inactive Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) and unaccountable governance, failing to meet the requirements of the 74th Amendment.

"The state runs the city through about 15 parastatals. The 74th Amendment mandates a unified, decentralised, elected city government, meaning all these parastatals should be integrated into the city government."

"The lawlessness at the top is evident; politicians don't want to follow the Constitution. The civic infrastructure is crumbling, and if there is lawless governance, everything else will eventually collapse," he said.

He said the 2015 Revised Master Plan (RMP) is void because it didn't adhere to the 74th Amendment. "In 2019, the BDA released the Revised Master Plan 2031 (RMP 2031), but it was withdrawn in 2020. Without a master plan since 1995, the city cannot address current issues. Singapore has a 50-year master plan, while we lack even a one-year plan. The disregard for the Constitution undermines democracy and leads to deteriorating civic infrastructure. Bengaluru has lost 30 years of development opportunities since the 90s and could have avoided unplanned growth if the 74th Amendment had been followed".

Alavilli said that ward committees, which were effectively bringing together active citizens and officials twice a month in every ward, are not functioning now due to the absence of ward corporators. “This is another compelling reason to hold BBMP elections as soon as possible”.