4 corporators from each ward in 2017 civic elections

Nagpur: Brushing aside opposition from some quarters, the BJP-Shiv Sena government has decided to change the ward system for future municipal corporation elections. Now one ward will return four corporators instead of the present one or two. The minimum number of corporators in a ward can be three while the maximum is five.
If the number of corporators in Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) house remains 145 for 2017 civic polls, then the city will have 36 wards.Thirty-five wards will have four corporators while the 36th ward will have five. The largest ward is likely to include Hudkeshwar and Narsala areas, which were brought under NMC jurisdiction in 2012. At present, the number of wards is 72 and 71 wards have two corporators and the 72nd ward has three members.
The move is expected to benefit bigger parties like BJP and Congress, which have more wherewithal and a committed voter base. Independents, party rebels and candidates from smaller parties will be at a disadvantage as they will to seek votes from areas where not many people know them well. Committed voters exercise their franchise in favour of a party and not the candidate, unless he or she is deemed to completely unworthy. This fact will help candidates from bigger parties.
The decision to increase the number of corporators from a ward was taken on the recommendations of a committee set up BJP state president Raosaheb Danve. This committee had also recommended direct elections of chairpersons of municipal councils, something that has also been accepted by the government.
Mayor Pravin Datke welcomed the new system saying that it would prevent injustice to politicians. “In a single ward system, if it became reserved for women, SC or ST, then candidates of other categories were denied a chance to contest elections. Now, this will no longer be the case as one or two seats will remain unreserved. This system is applicable to all parties and nobody should crib about it,” he said.
Congress corporator Praful Gudadhe, however, opposed the system. “This step has been taken by BJP as it was afraid of losing the elections. While it may benefit a political party, it is against the interests of common citizens as there will be no accountability in this system. As a party, Congress is fully geared up to contest civic polls under this system,” he said.
City NCP president Anil Deshmukh also echoed similar sentiments. “BJP has done this because its record in recent local body elections was poor. If Devendra Fadnavis and Nitin Gadkari are confident that they have done development works, then why are they scared of losing the elections,” he said.