Bhubaneswar Municipal

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 22: Political undertones and possible early polls for urban local bodies were evident at the council meeting of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation today.

Councillors said they wanted the 2011 Census to be the basis for the delimitation exercise, so that male candidates had a better chance at becoming councillors in view of 33 per cent reservation for women candidates.

“No one is opposed to the delimitation process starting, but it should be on the actual population and the male and female ratio in the wards concerned. The 2001 Census cannot be its basis. The 2011 provisional Census figures have pointed to drastic changes in the population dynamics in all wards of the BMC, especially in areas where the population has gone up three to four times,” said a councillor, on condition of anonymity.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena summarised: “The municipal council has decided to write to the state government to use the 2011 Census data as the basis for the delimitation. However, it is the state government that will take the final call.”

The delimitation was necessitated after a gazette notification by the state government on November 6 that said: “Reservations of seats under the Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003, shall be made by rotation to different wards, after two terms of general election.”

It means reservation of seats in the various wards (50 per cent reservation for women candidates) would be effected in rotation and the same (as per the wards) would be considered for two consecutive municipal corporation polls.

But, councillors hoped that with the 2011 final Census report, there would be an increase of eight more wards in the city. At present, there are 60 wards and of them 22 have women councillors.

“Many councillors suspect that with the new delimitation, many male councillors will lose their hopes in BMC politics as they will be replaced by women candidates. Once the 2011 final Census report is ready, there could be some hope for men, with eight more wards likely to be formed in the city,” said another councillor.

The delimitation will be notified on January 31 and elections to the urban local bodies are likely to be held in December. However, political analysts have said the polls might be over by September because of the charged political atmosphere in the state.

Municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra said: “A 2008 Orissa High Court judgment has clearly said the final call is to be taken by the state government. We will send the municipal council proposal to the housing and urban development department, but the decision will come from the top.”