BBMP in history: From city council 1949 to GBA 2025; Check full history here

Seventy-five years of Bengaluru’s municipal journey ends with BBMP, as the Greater Bengaluru Authority ushers in a new governance model.

1949: The Beginning

The journey began with the formation of the Bengaluru City Council, where R. Subbanna became the city’s first mayor. It marked the birth of organised civic leadership in a growing city.

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1996: The Mahanagara Palike Era

As the city expanded, the council gave way to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) in 1996. This was the start of a larger, more ambitious structure meant to serve a modern metropolis.

2010: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)

With Bengaluru transforming into a global IT hub, the BMP was widened to form the BBMP, merging 110 villages and eight surrounding councils. This was the age of a “Greater Bengaluru,” run under one powerful civic body.

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2019–20: The Last Mayor

M. Gautham Kumar, elected in 2019, became the final mayor of a unified Bengaluru. His tenure closed a 70-year chapter of city mayors who shaped the governance of India’s Silicon Valley.

2025: The BBMP Ends, GBA Begins

Today, that chapter is over. The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has replaced BBMP. Bengaluru is now divided into five city corporations—North, South, East, West, and Central—each split into zones. Even the nameboards at the BBMP headquarters are being replaced, a symbolic farewell to the past.

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Legacy and the Future

Supporters call this a historic decentralisation, promising quicker decisions and neighbourhood-level focus. Critics, however, worry about coordination between multiple corporations. Either way, Bengaluru has stepped into a new governance model—while the BBMP has now become a memory etched in history.

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