2 min readBengaluruUpdated: May 12, 2026 06:36 PM IST
Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy Tuesday linked the Karnataka government’s Supreme Court petition seeking additional time to conduct the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections with the ongoing power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Responding to a question regarding the petition, Kumaraswamy said that while Siddaramaiah wanted polls to be held Shivakumar was not keen on the same. “For one, elections should be conducted to save his CM seat, and for the other, elections should be postponed to secure the CM seat. There is conflict between the two,” he said.
According to Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah, in Shivakumar’s absence, convened a meeting with State Election Commission officials and piled pressure on them to conduct the polls. “When the deputy CM returned, he held another meeting and opined that GBA elections cannot be held for any reason,” he said, adding that Shivakumar had exerted pressure on Siddaramaiah to delay the polls.
Linking the Supreme Court petition, which sought to delay the conduct of GBA polls till September, to the ongoing power tussle between the two, he said that Siddaramaiah was of the view that holding the polls would secure his chair for six months. “For the deputy CM, if polls are held, his position will be affected and (he is unsure) whether he would get the (CM) post,” the Union Minister said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the state government to hold polls for five corporations under GBA by the end of June. The state government had also announced that it would hold the polls by the said date, before the recent volte-face.
On Monday, CM’s legal adviser A S Ponnanna said that the petition was filed because officials required for the election process were busy with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the Census ordered by the Union government.
