SEC informs SC about lack of funds, staff to conduct GBA polls by June 30

BENGALURU: The State Election Commission (SEC) has informed the Supreme Court that it has no funds or staff to conduct elections to the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) by June 30. In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday regarding steps taken to conduct the elections, the Commission said, “All steps are being taken to conduct and complete the GBA elections on or before June 30.

The Commission noted that  it does not have any funds to conduct the elections and that the state government has been requested to urgently release funds to conduct the elections. The Commission stated that it is completely dependent on the state government and government officials for logistical support, staff, infrastructure and funds for conducting the corporation elections.

The census work in the state will be completed by May 15 and work on conducting elections to the five corporations will begin only after that. The Election Commission of India has not yet announced the dates for the Special Summary Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The Commission clarified that all these matters have been communicated in a letter to the Chief Secretary of the state.

On January 12, 2026, a Supreme Court Bench had directed the Commission to conduct the elections by June 30. Preparatory work for the elections, including revision of electoral rolls, has been carried out. The final electoral roll was published on April 18. The Commission is following the Bench’s orders but has no staff or funds of its own to conduct the elections. For this, the support of the state government is necessary, the Commission pointed out.

On April 15, the state government had written to the State Election Commission requesting an extension of the timeline for holding the elections to the five city corporations. Citing a letter written by GBA Chief Commissioner M Maheshwara Rao to the Chief Secretary, Jagadish, Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, wrote to S Honnamba, Secretary of the Commission, stating that as proper preparations need to be made for the city corporation elections, the deadline should be extended till September 30.

In a letter dated April 8 to the Chief Secretary, GBA Chief Commissioner had said, “Census work is under way within GBA limits, and the entire administrative and field-level machinery is engaged in it. Since these activities are statutory and time-bound, more staff need to be deployed for enumeration, supervision, training, and coordination. This leaves limited scope for preparatory work related to local body elections, and SIR is also expected to be taken up simultaneously.

In addition, deployment of staff for academic examination duties in May and June is likely to further reduce available staff.The Commission has mentioned all these matters in the affidavit. It has requested the Bench to issue appropriate directions on the matter.The State Government had submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court on April 14 stating that ward-wise reservation for the elections has been finalised and notified.