Karnataka Assembly adopts GBA amendment Bill to add members

The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday adopted the Greater Bengaluru Governance (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, that seeks to include members of the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, the Legislative Assembly, and the Legislative Council as members of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) if they come under its jurisdiction.

Piloting the Bill, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said names of some of the elected representatives including Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murthy and Chickballapur MP K. Sudhakar had been left out from the GBA as its members, though they came under the GBA jurisdiction. The proposed amendment would provide for adding their names.

Ex-officio members

It is also aimed at including Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary to Urban Development Department, and Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary to Finance Department as ex-officio members of the GBA.

The Bill also provides for inclusion of ACS to Urban Development Department as a member of the Executive Committee of the GBA.

It also provides for re-division of wards in respect to newly incorporated local areas to be carried out within a specified period.

The Deputy Chief Minister agreed to the suggestion by the Opposition members to drop the provision for appointing nominated members to the GBA.

Earlier, BJP member S. Suresh Kumar said: “There are 369 members in the GBA. If the government adds one nominated person for every 20,000 population, there would be another 369 members. This would create confusion.”

Changing houses

The Deputy Chief Minister also endorsed the views of Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok that the trend of Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council members frequently changing their addresses to gain voting rights in different local bodies should be discouraged.