Thanks to rise in number of voters, the number of corporators in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to increase in the 2017 civic polls.
As present, there are 227 corporators in the municipal House. According to sources in BMC, the number is likely to go up to 250.
As per the 2011 census, Mumbai’s population stood at 1.24 crore. Number of voters registered for the recently held assembly polls was 1.01 crore (24.57 lakh in island city and 76.56 lakh in suburbs) spread across 36 assembly segments.
At present, the populace of each ward stands at an average of 54,000. The average number of voters per ward is around 44,000. Once the delimitation takes place, which is expected for the 2017 polls, the average population per ward is likely to come down to around 50,000, with number of electors being 40,000. Previously, delimitation took place in 2007.
“The increased number of voters is scattered in suburbs, especially western. Number of wards in island city may not see a great change compared to suburbs,” the source said.
While the number of electoral wards is expected to go up, the reduction in number of voters may result in good governance, political observers feel.
“People line up to meet their corporator to get work. So, when the area s/he has to focus on becomes smaller, s/he will be able to serve better,” said Sandeep Pradhan, senior assistant editor of Marathi daily Lokmat.
Pradhan believes the idea of dividing BMC-administered areas into three corporations each for island city, western and eastern suburbs too would help in better governance. “Earlier, such an idea was being considered. But the proposal was opposed under the pretext of diving Mumbai,” he added.
Meanwhile, political parties are closely monitoring the rise in voters’ numbers to prepare their strategy for the civic polls, which is going to be a matter of reputation for all the outfits, especially Shiv Sena and BJP, given the parties contested October 15 assembly election independently and may choose to do the same for the local election.
“During the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, our party benefited from votes coming from different quarters. The increased number of voters was crucial in our party’s superlative performance. We have realised we still have to reach out to the upcoming areas/wards and are preparing for that. We are just waiting for the delimitation to be announced and final ward reservations to chalk out our strategy,” a BJP leader in the corporation said.
Through the years
1963: 140 corporators
1982: 170 corporators
1991: 221 corporators
2012: 227 corporators
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