Areas under 25 wards of Salt Lake are set to be redistributed into 31. Owing to an increase in the township’s population, the election commission had decided that a reshuffle and resizing of wards was in order and the municipal authorities have proposed an additional six wards. But the drawing of new wards was not without drama from members of opposition parties.

The last time the township witnessed a delimitation was in February 2010, before the municipal elections. The township was divided into 25 wards from 23 then. The 2011 census showed the population of the township to have risen to 2,15,514. “Whenever there is an increase in population this delimitation process is carried out so that there is better representation of democracy in the specified areas,” said Pawan Kadyan, the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Bidhannagar.

New structure

Some of the olds wards have simply got renamed. For instance, Ward 3 (comprising AJ, AK, BK, SA, DK, DJ, BJ and CJ blocks) will now be Ward 7. Karunamoyee, which get renamed from Ward 14 to 6. BD and BE blocks, which used to be Ward 7 will now be 11.

Ward 22, that comprised Purbachal and a part of Duttabad, has now got clubbed with a much larger share of Duttabad to form Ward 23. Larger wards are getting broken down to two or three new wards. Ward 1, comprising mainly Duttabad, with a population of 19,148 people and 4,558 households, has now been trifurcated. “Since the decision to redistribute the wards has been taken by the election commission I welcome the process. But, personally I feel that it would have been better if two wards were created instead of three,” said Chameli Naskar, the councillor of Ward 1.

Debashis Jana, councillor of Ward 16 comprising FF, GD, GE, HB, HC, IB, IC blocks, too is undecided. “It is too early to comment as the process of delimitation is still on. So let us see what the final outcome is. Perhaps some more thought could have been put into the divisions,” Jana said. His ward has been divided into wards 25 and 26.

Should the process go off smoothly, the delimitation will take effect before the municipal elections next year. That way there will be no confusion about which councillor heads which ward.

Pointing fingers

Though the new ward division is just a formality away from being enforced, the process by which they were divided has caused an uproar in the Opposition ranks.

It all started when the district magistrate (DM), on behalf of the election commission, sent a letter to the SDO and the municipality on September 8, asking them to send him the draft proposal of the new wards by October 17.

While the law requires all 25 councillors to be informed, only the chairman-in-council (CIC) members were alerted about the meeting on September 26. They decided on the new wards and sent the proposal to the DM.

On October 20, the DM issued a public notice seeking suggestions or objections to the proposal. It was then that other councillors found out about the delimitation. Opposition councillors objected to the process and as a result the proposal was cancelled.

So a fresh meeting was called on October 30, this time with the entire board of councillors (BOC). But the eight Left Front councillors, led by Opposition leader Ila Nandy, staged a walk-out. “The West Bengal Municipal Act states that any resolution regarding a delimitation has to be taken in a BOC meeting. The September 26 meeting was only among the CIC members who passed the proposed draft. We are not against delimitation but the process being followed is illegal,” protested Nandy, adding that she had also met the DM regarding the issue.

Despite the walkout, the board meeting continued. The proposal was passed and the same draft was sent to the DM once again. He issued a public notice on November 3, asking for suggestions or objections.

BJP leaders are displeased with the way the wards have been divided. “Trinamul Congress is now playing the same game that the Left played,” says Ashoke Sarkar, national council member, BJP. “Earlier, CPM planned to win elections from votes garnered from the added areas. With the same motive, the Trinamul-led board has now reshuffled the existing wards so most include some added areas.”