Centre issues delimitation notification, sets stage for AAP vs BJP in MCD elections; polling to be held in 250 wards

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification regarding the completion of the delimitation exercise redrawing the wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. 

The delimitation committee submitted its final report on redrawing the wards of the MCD to the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday. Following the delimitation exercise, the number of municipal wards in Delhi will be 250.

With the delimitation exercise concluding, the Centre is now likely to direct the State Election Commission to initiate the poll process.

According to civic officials, following the gazette notification, the delimitation exercise should be understood to be completed. The Ministry of Home Affairs in July this year set up a three-member panel for a fresh delimitation of the municipal wards in Delhi.

The delimitation exercise in Delhi was last conducted in 2016 and the number of wards was kept at 272 with each having an average population of 60,000 considering a variation of 10 to 15 per cent.

Municipal polls were slated to be held in Delhi in April this year. They were put on hold hours before then Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava was to announce the schedule on March 8 due to the Centre's plan to reunify the three civic bodies.

The AAP alleged that the BJP was sensing another defeat after Punjab and was hence playing for time. The MCD in Delhi has been run by the BJP for three consecutive terms now anti-incumbency is high this time, even as the Aam Aadmi Party is close on its heels. 

AAP had even approached the court against the move to reunify the three civic administrative units arguing that it would introduce disparity in population and sizes of the units.

"22 assembly constituencies were to see a reduction of one ward each under delimitation, but the ward structure of all 70 constituencies was reorganised in the draft order," AAP had said.

"The exercise has been called out for lack of logic, rationale and reason by experts across the board. It has been argued that the reorganisation of wards under MCD delimitation may pose a threat to the development of the national capital and put interests of the working-class wards in the dark," the party added in a statement.

The MCD has already started preparations for the civic polls. On Monday, it released the list of its nodal officers and sub-nodal officers for all zones for municipal elections. The list includes the names of 12 nodal officers for its 12 zones and as many sub-nodal officers.

Days ago, the State Election Commission asked the civic body to prepare for the polls and send it a list of civic officials who will be made nodal officers for the election.

This also comes at a time when the AAP and the BJP are involved in a standoff over the CBI investigation into the Delhi excise policy case involving Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The AAP has termed the case as a "political vendetta".