GBA elections: Election Commission calls key meeting after Supreme Court deadline

With the Supreme Court deadline approaching, the Election Commission has scheduled a crucial meeting on January 20 to review preparations for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, likely to be held by June 30.

The Election Commission has moved into alert mode following the Supreme Court’s deadline on the conduct of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections. As part of the preparations, a high-level review meeting has been scheduled later this month to assess the readiness for holding the long-pending polls.

According to official sources, the Election Commission has fixed January 20 for a detailed meeting focused exclusively on the GBA elections. The meeting will be attended by senior government officials along with key representatives from the GBA.

From the GBA side, the Chief Commissioner and the Commissioners of all five city municipal corporations are expected to participate. The discussions are likely to set the direction for the election process, with a strong possibility of arriving at a decision to conduct the elections by June 30, in line with the court’s timeline.

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Officials said the meeting will function as a comprehensive preparatory review. One of the major items on the agenda will be the verification of voter lists across the five municipal corporations. The Election Commission is also expected to examine objections related to ward reservations in urban local bodies.

Other key topics include discussions on the appointment of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), identification and finalisation of polling stations based on ward-wise delimitation, and the marking of sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths.

The Election Commission may also seek details of the SSLC and PUC examination schedules to avoid any clash while finalising the GBA election dates. Planning for election manpower, training of staff, and assessment of the required number of EVMs will also be taken up during the meeting.

Security arrangements during polling and post-poll measures, including the availability and management of strong rooms for securing EVMs after voting, are also expected to be discussed in detail.

Officials describe this meeting as a preliminary but critical step in the run-up to the GBA elections.