Election Commission to redraw municipal ward boundaries

In wake of large-scale objections to its draft report on delimitation of 272 municipal wards, the state Election Commission will undertake a fresh exercise to redraw the geographical boundaries of these wards in the national capital. With the municipal elections expected in April next year, the commission is all set to prepare the new draft within next two months.

Once new wards are carved out, it is bound to have serious implications on the capital’s political discourse. For instance, if a chunk of voters of a Bengali dominated ward is made part of another ward dominated by Punjabi community, the political parties will be extra careful to choose their candidates from the two communities who could grab the maximum voters of their respective communities. Also, with AAP going to play a major role in the municipal elections, both BJP and Congress will have to redraw their strategies and ensure they give due representation to those candidates who have a say among their caste and community members in their respective wards.

The state Election Commission had in September sought suggestions and objections from political parties, aspiring candidates, and general public on its draft report on delimitation of municipal wards.

The report had proposed changes in the geographical boundaries of about 150 wards. The drafty report had proposed new wards on the basis of the population size of about 60,000 people as per the 2011 Census. Each of the existing 272 municipal wards had been carved out on the basis of the population size of 40,000 people in 2007. A highly placed source said that the fresh delimitation drive will be carried out on the basis of population size varying between 50,000 and 70,000 for each ward.

A senior officer said that as many as 600 objections had been received against the commission’s draft delimitation report. For instance, the draft report had suggested separating a village and an unauthorised colony of one ward. “The villagers demanded that the new ward be renamed after their village. But those living in the unauthorised colony demanded their ward to be named after their colony.

“Many people had pointed out that their different properties in the existing ward would fall under the different wards. A shopkeeper in Dwarka said: “I have a shop and a house in my ward. But if the draft report is implemented, both my properties will fall under different wards. That means I will have to visit separate municipal offices to pay my property tax.”