The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill (Second Amendment), 2024, paving the way for key changes in the composition of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).

Presenting the amendment in the Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar said the revision was necessary to correct omissions and ensure proper representation of elected representatives residing within the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits.

Shivakumar explained that certain areas falling under the constituencies of Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty and Chikkaballapur MP Dr K Sudhakar have now been brought under the BBMP jurisdiction. However, several public representatives residing within the civic body’s limits were not included in the GBA member list. The amendment seeks to include local body representatives and Members of the Legislative Council in the authority.

He further said that since the Chief Minister serves as the head of the Greater Bengaluru Authority, the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department have been included as members. In addition, the Finance Department Secretary will also be part of the authority.

These gaps were noticed during the first GBA meeting, which opposition members had not attended due to political reasons, prompting the government to introduce the amendment, he said.

During the debate, BJP MLA Suresh Kumar raised concerns over the provision of nominated members, pointing out that with 369 elected BBMP councillors already in place, adding nominated members—at the ratio of one per 20,000 residents—could create confusion and raise questions about the structure’s appropriateness.

Responding to the concern, Shivakumar clarified that the Greater Bengaluru Authority is not an elected body but a state-level administrative institution. He said elections would be held within six months whenever new areas are merged into the BBMP.

Until then, nominated representation was proposed to ensure transitional governance. However, accepting the opposition’s suggestion, he announced that the government would drop the provision for nominated members.