Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao on Tuesday directed the election department to seek extension of time for election-related work from the State Election Commission in connection with the upcoming GBA municipal corporation polls. The decision follows concerns raised by representatives of political parties about tight deadlines for verifying the voter list and legal procedures.
Mr. Rao gave the instructions while presiding over a meeting with representatives of political parties at the GBA headquarters to discuss the revised circular issued by the State Election Commission on the publication of constituency-wise draft voter lists for the five municipal corporations under the GBA. The draft voter list for the GBA elections was published on 19 January, after which the State Electoral Commission published the amended electoral program on 22 January. In the relevant city councils, election-related activities are currently taking place in accordance with the adjusted schedule.
During the meeting, representatives of the political parties asked for additional time to complete the mandatory election processes, citing practical difficulties. After that, Mr. Rao instructed the officials to write to the State Election Commission for an extension. He also directed the officials to expeditiously address any issues arising in any of the five city corporations and ensure public awareness about Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducting door-to-door verification in all city corporations.
Special Commissioner (Elections) R. Ramachandran said that the draft voter list has already been released and BLOs are currently visiting households to receive applications in the prescribed formats. He asked political party leaders to encourage voters to verify their details in the draft voter list, including inclusion of names, corrections and other changes, to help prepare an error-free final voter list.
Mr. Ramachandran also said during the meeting that the State Election Commission had stipulated that each polling station should serve a maximum of 1,500 voters and that polling stations would be set up accordingly in all constituencies.
Political party representatives also sought more time to ensure that Assembly voters falling under a constituency are not duplicated in multiple constituency electoral rolls, to compare constituency-level electoral rolls with the corresponding Assembly electoral rolls and to include eligible voters in the constituency proposal electoral roll as Supplementary List-1 based on supplementary Assembly electoral rolls published after 1 October 2025 using software From–To Matrix. They also called for wide publicity of the exercise and appealed to voters to cooperate in the verification process.
Published – 27 Jan 2026 23:15 IST
