Redrawing the Delhi’s boundaries

New Delhi: The fate of the civic elections in the three municipal bodies, expected in April 2017, hangs in a balance as the Delhi government is yet to forward the State Election Commission’s delimitation report on the 272 municipal wards to Raj Niwas. The commission has already sent its report to the chief secretary, who in turn forwarded it to the state urban development minister. If the urban development ministry does not send the report for final approval to Raj Niwas in the near future, there are chances that the civic polls may be delayed for a few months.

As per law, it is mandatory to hold the civic polls in accordance with the delimitation of new municipal wards. Once the lieutenant governor puts his stamp on the delimitation report, then only the State Election Commission can proceed further to hold the municipal elections. According to Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, Clause 6 of Section 3(b) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (Amended 1991) empowers the Centre after each Census to determine the number of seats of the civic body by notification in the official gazette. “But in case of delay in the process by the Delhi government, the Centre should intervene to ensure that the three municipal bodies are installed in time.”

For the national capital, the implementation of the delimitation report would mean that 150 of the 272 municipal wards will be having new geographical boundaries. Also, the next year’s high-stakes municipal poll will set the tone for the political battle in the city in which BJP will try to make every possible effort to retain its turf facing an upbeat AAP which aims to replicate its electrifying performance in  the Assembly elections in 2015. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had swept the Assembly elections by winning 67 of the 70 seats. The saffron brigade had won just three seats, while Congress even failed to open its account after ruling the national capital for years.

With delimitation going to change the geographical boundaries of about 150 wards, AAP, BJP and Congress think that redrawing of the municipal limits could affect the outcome of the civic elections. Civic polls would be considered the litmus test for AAP, BJP and Congress. For BJP, which has been ruling the three civic bodies for 10 years, anti-incumbency is the most worrying factor. Plus, the party is not sure what impact demonetisation is going to have on civic polls. Worst is the case with Congress, which was not able to even open its account in either Lok Sabha or Assembly elections. But it will be a litmus test for chief minister Kejriwal’s party as the outcome of the civic polls can be interpreted by his political rivals as a referendum on his administrative skills .

Earlier, the civic bypolls had seen AAP bagging 5 of the 13 seats, while Congress made a spirited comeback by winning 4 seats, pushing BJP to third spot. One rebel candidate joined Congress after winning the bypoll. The bypoll results are a clear indicator that the polls will be a keenly-fought contest.

Delimitation
The geographical boundaries of about 150 of the 272 wards are going to change once delimitation report is implemented in Delhi. The last delimitation of the unified MCD was carried out in 2007 on the basis of 2001 Census. At that time, the population size of each ward was about 40,000. This time, the new wards are being carved out on the basis of the population size of about 60,000 people on the basis of  2011 Census. Post delimitation, the nomenclature of all the municipal wards is going to change.

North Delhi and Central Delhi
In the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the report suggests that Burari and Bawana constituencies are likely to have six wards each; Narela, Rithala, Mundka and Kirari will have five wards each and Adarsh Nagar, Tri Nagar, Wazirpur, Model Town, Chandni Chowk, Ballimaran, Karol Bagh (SC), Moti Nagar and Rajinder Nagar may end up having three wards each in their jurisdiction.

South Delhi
In the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, both Vikaspuri and Matiala Assembly constituencies are likely to have seven wards each in their jurisdiction. While the Badarpur seat may have six wards, Okhla  constituency is set to have five wards. Among the constituencies which are likely to have three wards are Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Tri Nagar, Jangpura, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, R.K. Puram, Greater Kailash, Kalkaji and Tuglakabad.

East Delhi
In the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Gokalpur (SC), Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar Assembly segments are likely to have five wards each while Gandhi Nagar may end up with having only three wards. The nomenclature of the remaining wards is not going to change.