The draft delimitation order of the municipal wards in the city, published on Monday, highlights alterations in the ward boundaries across 24 Assembly constituencies, with the total number of wards reduced from 272, before the reunification of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), to 250 now.
Municipal wards were reduced in 23 Assembly constituencies including Burari, Timarpur, Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur, Dwarka, Matiala and Shahdara.
The number of wards in each of these 23 constituencies has been reduced by one, by merging smaller wards within the respective constituencies.
Explaining the process
“We have focused on Assembly constituencies that have more than three wards and are larger in size. This is also because the minimum number of wards in each constituency has been fixed at three,” a source said.
In one case — Mustafabad — the number of wards was increased from four to five.
“The average population per ward varied from 50,000 to 70,000. There were only 11 Assembly constituencies where the population per ward did not fit into this bracket. Now we will wait for public suggestions and objections and after concluding this process, send the proposal to the Centre for its approval,” the source added.
Suggestions and objections by people on the draft order for the proposed delimitation of municipal wards of Delhi can be sent to the authorities by October 3 evening.
After the Centre gives approves the draft, which is likely to happen by early November, civic polls can be held in the city, the source said.
The background
The need for the delimitation exercise arose after the Centre notified the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, in April reducing the number of councillor seats to “not more than 250”.
On July 26, The Hindu reported that the exact number of seats had been fixed at 250, while a gazette notification on Saturday confirmed the number.
Another change announced through the gazette notification on Saturday was the reduction in the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes from 46, before MCD’s reunification, to 42.
The delimitation committee, which was constituted by the MHA on July 8, is headed by State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev.
It was asked to complete the exercise and submit its report within four months from the date of its constitution.
Parties react
Reacting to the changes made in the municipal wards, senior Congress leader Chattar Singh alleged “foul play” in the number of wards allotted in “certain constituencies”.
“According to the average population per ward in Burari constituency, the total number of wards should be six, not five. A similar pattern has been observed in constituencies such as Mangolpuri, Kondli, Seemapuri, which are reserved for SC candidates,” said Mr. Singh. He added that the SEC’s calculation “in increasing and decreasing wards in these constituencies is flawed”.
Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai told agencies that the exercise has been done in an “illogical manner”.
“Those involved in delimitation of ward just picked one Mohalla (locality) from a ward and put it in another ward,” Rai said.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta welcomed the report and said that his party will offer “practical suggestions” during the exercise.
