Wed Jan 29 16:54:33 IST 2025: **Bengaluru’s Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill Report Expected in February**

**Bengaluru, January 29, 2025** – The 13-member committee reviewing the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024, is expected to submit its report in February, ahead of the Karnataka Assembly’s budget session. The committee, headed by Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad and formed last August, has held numerous meetings to discuss aspects of the bill, including the potential splitting of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and improvements to disaster management, waste management, taxation, forest, lake, and horticultural systems.

While the committee’s chairman, Mr. Arshad, confirmed the completion of their work and the upcoming public consultations, the bill’s inclusion in the budget session remains uncertain. The delay in Bengaluru’s civic polls has been linked to the passage of this new bill by the ruling Congress party. Former Congress councillor Abdul Wajid expressed hope for the bill’s timely tabling, citing Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s five-month deadline for the civic polls.

Opposition BJP members are anticipated to submit dissenting opinions to the committee’s report, mirroring a similar action taken by Congress members during the passage of the BBMP Act, 2020. The current bill, drafted by a Congress-appointed expert committee after the party assumed power, was referred to the House committee for review following opposition to its initial draft. The committee includes MLAs and MLCs from various parties.

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