Ward limits manipulated in Mumbai to favour Shiv Sena, says BJP – Times of India

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ward delimitation exercise has been done in a manner that it benefits the ruling party Shiv Sena, alleged the BJP on Tuesday.
BJP leaders alleged at least 65-70 wards have been demarcated such that the change greatly favours the ruling party in the civic body. “The lines have been drawn so that where BJP won with a slender margin of less than 1,000 votes, it will be more difficult to win that ward. The polling booths have been shifted to neighbouring wards where BJP already has a majority,” said a BJP leader. BJP councillors will meet on Wednesday to discuss the implications of the new ward boundaries. In 2017, the party which was in power with the Sena in the then state government contested the BMC elections alone and won 82 seats.
Mulund BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha termed the redrawing of ward boundaries a “manipulation” as regular ward boundary markers such as the railway line, major arterial roads and major nullahs have not been used to mark certain wards. He alleged the boundaries have been drawn by a political agency affiliated to the ruling party and not by the BMC.
Giving an instance, Kotecha said the Mulund assembly constituency is rectangular in shape and is divided into six electoral wards. “Prabhakar Shinde and Rajani Jain represent the wards in Mulund East. The wards have been redrawn defying logical reasoning such that one ward extends beyond the railway line and goes right up to LBS Marg in Mulund West. A ward is normally spread over 2 kms, here it is 5 kms, making it difficult for citizens to meet and interact with the corporator. The demarcation exercise defeats the objective of serving Mumbaikars better,” he said. All this has been done to give advantage to the ruling party, Kotecha said. “Ward 208 in Wadala, 209 in Mulund, 137 in Ghatkopar and 72 in Vile Parle are some examples where winning margins are likely to come down further for BJP,” he said.