Congress cries foul over BJP’s delimitation move

AHMEDABAD: The delimitation of wards for the upcoming municipal elections in Ahmedabad will usurp 19 wards from the earlier 64 wards list, while two new wards — Shahibaug and Makhtampura — have been added to the new list. In all, in these municipal elections to be held in October there would be 48 wards, with four elected members representing each ward.
The Congress has smelled rat in the delimitation process as the new boundaries have literally merged the Congress strongholds and diluted their votes into BJP-ruled wards. In the new equations, the Congress would have just four wards — Sarkhej, Gomtipur Mukhtampura, Lambha and Raikhad — which leaves the party with just 20 candidates of the 192 seats.
The major 19 wards that will disappear in the elections include, Ambawadi, Kalupur, Vadaj, Kankaria, Kaligam, Raikhad, Krushnagar, Meghaninagar, Dudheshwar, India Colony, Arbudanagar, Madhupura, Ghodasar and Nobelnagar, among others.
“The new delimitation of municipal wards just reflects the BJP government’s insecurity about losing their strongholds to opposition parties in Ahmedabad municipal elections. The government has clinically dissected and diluted almost all of Congress votes and opposition strongholds,” says opposition Congress leader Badruddin Sheikh. “The anger amongst voters is quite visible now. For many months, the chief minister had been conducting zonal meetings of AMC. Losing major municipal seats in Ahmedabad would be symbolic as it is after BJP won the AMC polls under Narendra Modi’s leadership that they had come to power in the state in the 1990s.”
The major Congress wards that have been merged or disappeared include Rajpur, Dariapur, Vadaj, Rakhial and Raikhad. Major BJP vote-pulling councillors too would lose their seats. These include former mayor Kanaji Thakore, Praveen Patel and Krishnavdhan Brahmbhatt. In the Congress, leaders like Liyaqat Ghori, Surendra Baxi, Aaniya Sheikh, Amjadkhan Pathan and Taufiqkhan Pathan face the same fate.
The opposition Congress has raised objections to the new delimitation and even demanded an enquiry as to whether the process was transparent.