Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill put on hold, referred to House panel of Karnataka legislature

Bengaluru: The contentious Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, which proposes a superbody to run the state capital and up to 10 municipalities, was referred to a Joint Select Committee of the Legislature for scrutiny on Thursday.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also in charge of the Bengaluru City Development portfolio, moved the Bill for consideration in the Assembly only to be met with resistance from the Opposition BJP.

“This is a Bill to break Bengaluru. I seek a House committee composed of lawmakers from the Legislative Assembly and Council to study the Bill in order to give some shape to Bengaluru,” Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said.

“The city will be in trouble if you push this Bill prepared by some officers. Keep the Bill pending for now,” Ashoka told Shivakumar.

Yeshwanthpur BJP MLA S T Somashekhar also backed the idea of referring the Bill to a house committee. However, he hailed Shivakumar for “taking a historic decision” by introducing this Bill.

The Bill, introduced in the Assembly on Tuesday, allows Bengaluru to have up to 10 municipal corporations and a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) headed by the chief minister. The GBA will have financial and administrative functions, including “coordination, execution and administration of plans, schemes and major projects”.

Shivakumar said he is not in any hurry to have the Bill passed. “This needs wide debate. I accept referring the Bill to a House committee,” he said, adding that he had had discussions with lawmakers across parties representing Bengaluru.

Piloting the Bill earlier, Shivakumar said Bengaluru needed a new shape. “We need to build Brand Bengaluru,” he said. “The city’s population now is 1.4 crore. We need to infuse strength. There are many big issues. To carry Bengaluru globally, we need administrative reforms and provide more facilities to citizens. This Bill will give economic power and administrative regulation to Bengaluru,” he said.