Karnataka government issues ward reservation guidelines for civic elections in Bengaluru | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: The govt has issued comprehensive guidelines for determining ward-wise reservations for the forthcoming civic elections to the five newly constituted city corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). This move brings Bengaluru closer to elected urban local bodies after years of administrative transition.The guidelines were notified Friday following the completion of ward delimitation under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, which came into effect on May 15, 2025. The Act led to the restructuring of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) into five city corporations — Bengaluru Central, East, West, North, and South, with 369 wards — aimed at improving decentralised urban governance in the rapidly expanding metropolitan region.According to the govt order, ward reservations will be determined using population data from the 2011 Census. Seats for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities will be reserved in proportion to their population in each city corporation. The number of reserved wards will be calculated based on the ratio of SC and ST population to the total population of the respective corporation, and applied to the total number of wards.The order also mandates that one-third of the total wards in each city corporation should be reserved for backward classes. However, the govt has reiterated the constitutional ceiling of 50% on total reservations. “If the combined reservation for SCs, STs, and backward classes exceeds this limit, the backward class quota will be proportionately reduced to comply with the cap,” the order stated.Of the wards reserved for backward classes, 80% will be allocated to Category A and the remaining 20% to Category B, as provided under the Act. Within both categories, 50% of the seats will be reserved for women, subject to the condition that if the number of seats is odd, the remaining seat will not be earmarked for women.The guidelines also lay down a transparent method for identifying specific wards for SC and ST reservation. The wards will be ranked in descending order based on SC and ST population, with separate lists prepared for each category. Reservations will then be allotted alternately in the sequence of SC and ST until the required number of reserved wards is completed.What about women?Women’s reservation has been extended across all categories. Half the seats reserved for SC, ST, backward classes, and even unreserved (general) categories will be earmarked for women, reinforcing the state’s commitment to gender representation in urban local governance.Once reservations for SC, ST, backward class categories A and B are finalised, the remaining wards will be classified as general seats. Fifty percent of these general wards will also be reserved for women, subject to the same odd-number condition. Significantly, the govt has directed that reserved wards be rotated in future elections to prevent repetition of the same reservation in the same wards. This rotation will apply to SC, ST, backward class, and women’s reservations, though not to general seats.Officials said the issuance of reservation guidelines removes a critical procedural bottleneck ahead of civic polls. With ward delimitation already finalised, GBA is expected to prepare and notify ward-wise reservation lists, after which the state election commission can move towards announcing election schedules.
