Delimitation to expand Kolkata civic body to 200 wards, reshape equations for November polls

Kolkata, Jul 14 (PTI) The BJP government in West Bengal has set in motion a delimitation exercise for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation that would add 56 wards, while recasting demographic balance and reshaping political equations ahead of the civic polls expected in November. The delimitation exercise, the first for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) since 1984, is central to the government's plan to conduct the polls for the civic body before November end and install a new board before the present administrator-run arrangement ends on December 7. The polls would be the BJP's first electoral test after coming to power in the state with a sweeping mandate. Working to a timeline set by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) administration has asked the committees entrusted with redrawing ward boundaries to submit their recommendations by July 27. The Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department is expected to publish the draft delimitation notification by the end of the month. The exercise would expand the civic body's strength from 144 to 200. Each ward will be designed to have roughly 16,000 to 18,000 voters, replacing the existing uneven demographic distribution that has emerged over decades. While the corporation's 16 boroughs will remain unchanged, each will accommodate more wards under the revised arrangement. Polling booths and electoral parts will remain intact, with only ward boundaries being reorganised. KMC Administrator and Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey said, "The delimitation committees will submit their report by July 27. The draft notification will be published thereafter in accordance with the prescribed schedule." Officials said the current delimitation exercise would be in consonance with demographic changes the city witnessed over the past four decades. Population growth in several neighbourhoods of north and central Kolkata has slowed because of migration, ageing residents and smaller families, while the southern and eastern fringes have witnessed rapid urbanisation and large-scale residential development. Some older KMC wards have fewer than 10,000 voters, while those in several fast-growing areas have more than 60,000 voters. To complete the exercise within the timeline, the KMC has constituted a two-tier mechanism comprising a 10-member Central Delimitation Committee and 16 borough-level committees. The borough panels are examining ward boundaries, population distribution, geographical contiguity and administrative convenience before forwarding their recommendations to the central committee, which will prepare the final proposal. Officials said the draft notification is likely around July 31, after which objections and suggestions will be invited before the final notification is issued. The delimitation would not affect property ownership or civic records, officials said. Mutation certificates issued before the delimitation would remain valid, and safeguards were being put in place to ensure municipal services and property transactions continue without disruption. Beyond the administrative restructuring, the redrawing of the civic body's electoral boundaries could also alter the city's poll equations. With additional wards expected to be mostly clustered around the rapidly expanding eastern and southern neighbourhoods, political parties will have to rethink candidate selection, organisational structures and booth-level strategies. A senior BJP leader said the exercise is aimed at ensuring equitable representation rather than providing any political advantage. "Demography has changed substantially over the past four decades, and representation must change accordingly. This is a long-overdue administrative reform that will strengthen grassroots democracy and improve governance," the leader said. The challenge may be especially significant for the rival TMC factions, with leaders saying that they would closely scrutinise the draft notification once it is published. "This is a statutory exercise, but transparency is paramount. We will carefully examine the proposed boundaries to ensure the process is not influenced by political considerations," a leader of the Mamata Banerjee faction of the TMC said. A leader of the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction said, "Many of the old electoral calculations may no longer hold. Every political organisation will have to rebuild its network according to the new ward configuration." Kolkata's first full-scale municipal delimitation was held in 1984 under the Left Front government. That restructuring absorbed the Jadavpur, South Suburban and Garden Reach municipalities into KMC, increasing the number of wards to 141. After the Trinamool Congress came to power, three additional wards were created, taking the total to 144. PTI PNT NSD