Mumbai, Aug. 18 -- The West Bengal assembly on Thursday approved two delimitation bills that will raise the number of civic wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) from 144 to 209 and in the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) from 50 to 68. The measures were passed as the state prepares for municipal elections later this year and follow exercises to redraw ward boundaries based on population distribution. Authorities said the changes are intended to rebalance voter numbers across wards and facilitate administration.

Presenting the bills, the state minister for urban development and municipal affairs, Agnimitra Paul, indicated that delimitation will create smaller wards with lower populations and enable faster delivery of civic services. She said the decision to increase the number of wards was taken on the basis of population and that citizens would receive improved services as a result. The proposals aim to ensure more uniform representation and to address disparities in ward sizes that have developed over time.

In mid July the KMC began an exercise to redraw the boundaries of the city's 144 municipal wards so that each new ward would contain roughly 16,000 to 18,000 voters, and a parallel exercise was initiated in Howrah. Officials noted that existing wards vary widely, with some containing 8,000 to 10,000 voters while others in densely populated areas have 50,000 to 60,000 voters. An official who requested anonymity reported that one ward had around 80,000 voters, underscoring the imbalance.

Political actors said the redistribution could alter electoral dynamics in the KMC, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three of the 144 wards in 2021 but now holds six of the city's 11 assembly seats, including Bhabanipur where Suvendu Adhikari defeated the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee in April. Observers indicated that the delimitation may advantage the BJP ahead of polls, which officials have indicated are likely to be scheduled in November or December. A recent split in the TMC could produce triangular contests in many wards.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.