Delhi’s municipal wards have been redrawn as a first step to hold the delayed civic polls, seen as a test of popularity for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. The move, opposed by AAP, is likely to scale up the hostilities between the Centre and the state.
According to the gazette notification citing a statement dated September 10, the government has “fixed the total number of seats as 250 in the Corporation out of which 42 seats have been reserved for members of Scheduled Castes.”
According to Section 3 and Section 5 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, which was amended this year (Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022) (10 of 2022) provide for the determination of number of seats of Councillors as also the number of seats reserved for members of Scheduled Castes in the Corporation by the Central Government, it said.
“Delimitation Committee has completed its exercise with regard to preparation of the draft Delimitation order and submitted its report to the Central Government on August 12, 2022,” the notice read.
The civic polls, initially scheduled for March, was pushed back, with the Centre saying it wants to merge the three civic bodies in Delhi. AAP contended that the BJP was playing for time as it was nervous about the contest, in view of its crushing defeat in Punjab.