Delimitation will work for us, says Cong

The redrawn boundaries of municipal wards will work in the party’s favour in the upcoming municipal elections, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken told The Hindu on Thursday.

The election to the three municipal corporations is expected to take place in April. The Delhi government notified the order of delimitation last week, changing the configuration of the 272 wards.

More wards

The delimitation, carried out by the Delhi State Election Commission, changed the number of wards in each Assembly constituency from four each to between three to seven, depending on the population. The principle adopted by the commission was to have one ward for a population of 60,000.

With the changing of ward boundaries, densely populated areas, including slums clusters and unauthorised colonies, have been added to many wards.

“I think the delimitation will help us as many of the constituencies where the number of wards have increased are Congress strongholds,” said Mr. Maken. He added that the 2016 by-elections to 13 municipal wards, in which the Congress won five, had indicated that the party would do well in the general polls.

The Delhi Congress had launched its ‘Meri Dilli, Mere Sapne’ programme in October 2016 to crowd-source its manifesto for the elections.

‘Will find true solutions’

“We have already started the door-to-door campaign to reach out to voters. We will be coming up with true solutions for solid waste management, fiscal management, primary education and primary health,” said Mr. Maken.

The senior leader said that though the Congress would have a “positive” campaign, it would also remind Delhiites of the “failed promises” of the Aam Aadmi Party, which will be contesting the municipal polls for the first time.

While the party had not yet started work on selecting candidates, Mr. Maken said that the Congress will give “new and young” faces a chance.