MCD polls on anvil? Boundaries of Delhi’s 250 new wards fixed, 15 names altered

The Union home ministry accepted and notified the final delimitation report through two notifications issued on October 17, paving the way for holding municipal elections in Delhi.

Municipal wards in Delhi will have 40,000-89,000 voters with seats spread across 24 assembly constituencies undergoing major changes in terms of name and size, according to the final report by the delimitation commission that was constituted by the central government following the merger of the three civic bodies into a unified MCD.

New Delhi, India- July 1, 2015: A view of the MCD Civic Centre Building in New Delhi, India on Wednesday, July 01, 2015. ( Photo By Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The Union home ministry accepted and notified the final delimitation report through two notifications issued on October 17, paving the way for holding municipal elections in Delhi. The polls were abruptly cancelled in March this year when the Centre announced that the three civic bodies in the city will be merged. A unified MCD came into being in May.

A senior official associated with the delimitation process on Wednesday said boundaries of the wards have been carved out to reduce the variation in population in each ward — from 35,000-90,000 in the draft report to 40,000-89,000 in the final report. He said the population variation was one of the main objections raised by the political parties and citizens.

“Based on feedback, the panel has approved name changes of wards in 15 cases while major population variation has occurred in 24 assembly constituencies,” the official said, and added that overall 1,720 objections were received after draft report was shared in the public domain.

A total of 23 wards have been removed and one ward has been introduced in order to bring down the total wards from 272 to 250.

The 2011 Census was used as the basis for distribution of population across the 250 wards, the official added. “The process was finalised while ensuring each ward has a well defined boundary such as a drain or a road within the assembly constituency,” he explained.

A second official associated with the delimitation exercise said that the panel approved 15 name change proposals based on the feedback received on the draft report.

“In many cases, we received petitions to restore the original names. We took the decision based on major landmarks or the largest colony in the area. For instance, the name of Kanjhawala was proposed to be changed to Karala, but the final order has restored the original name,” the official added.

With the delimitation done, the focus has now shifted to the state election commission and the preparations for holding municipal elections in Delhi.

Anil Gupta, retired chief law officer of the north corporation, said the next step towards holding elections will be determination of the reservation wards for which the MHA has empowered the state election commission (SEC) through the notification.