Amendment Bill passed to include Sudha Murty, Dr K Sudhakar in Greater Bengaluru Authority

Belagavi: The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed an amendment Bill to include the names of several elected representatives — including Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty and Chikkaballapur MP Dr K Sudhakar — in the members’ list of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).

With this, the House approved the second amendment to the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill. Presenting the amendment Bill, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar said the move was necessary as the names of several public representatives who reside within the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits or represent areas falling under the GBA jurisdiction had been left out earlier.

The amendment seeks to correct this omission and ensure wider representation. Shivakumar explained that the Bill provides for the inclusion of local body representatives, the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries of the Urban Development and Finance Departments, and Members of the Legislative Council as GBA members.

He pointed out that despite Sudha Murty being a Bengaluru resident and parts of MP Dr K Sudhakar’s constituency falling under the GBA limits, their names were not part of the original members’ list.

“The intention is to ensure that all public representatives connected to the Greater Bengaluru region are part of the authority, so that governance decisions reflect ground realities,” Shivakumar told the House.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka welcomed the government’s decision to bring in the amendment, calling it a corrective step. However, he flagged potential technical issues related to the inclusion of Legislative Council members.

Ashoka cautioned that elected representatives from the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council, who may later shift their electoral registration to other municipal or urban local bodies, should not be placed in a position where they could exercise voting rights in more than one jurisdiction.

Responding to the concerns, Shivakumar said the government accepted the suggestion that any elected representative should exercise voting rights only in one place. At the same time, he clarified that the GBA is not an elected body, but an administrative authority meant to streamline and strengthen governance in the Greater Bengaluru region.

The passage of the amendment is seen as a key step in operationalising the Greater Bengaluru Authority, which aims to bring coordinated planning and administration across the expanding metropolitan region.

The government has maintained that broader representation within the GBA will help improve policy coordination, infrastructure planning, and urban governance across Bengaluru and its surrounding areas.

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