Bengaluru has had no elected ward councillors for six years

Bengaluru has had no elected civic council since the BBMP’s term ended on September 10, 2020. For a resident dealing with a blocked drain, uncollected waste or a broken streetlight, there is no ward councillor to take the complaint to officials and follow it up.

Former mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun said regular political representation had helped monitor services such as garbage collection. Padmanabhanagar resident Lalitha Rao said government projects may move ahead, but neighbourhoods no longer have an equivalent channel to identify and press for their own priorities.

Former corporators say the gap is especially felt in the 110 villages added to the erstwhile BBMP in 2008, where roads and water supply require sustained infrastructure work. They say ward representatives had previously sought funds and followed up with engineers, health inspectors and waste-management staff.

The city’s governance structure has changed repeatedly since the last BBMP election in 2015, from a proposed 243-ward map to a 225-ward delimitation exercise. Bengaluru now has 369 wards but an old service network.

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has said elections to Bengaluru’s five corporations will not be delayed further, though no poll schedule has been specified.