BJP demands investigation of the rough draft submitted by BMC chief for drawing up ward boundaries

@Vikas_Nag_1987

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator, Vinod Mishra has written a letter to the State Election Commissioner, UPS Madan requesting him to order scrutiny and investigation of rough draft submitted by Municipal Commissioner of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for drawing up ward boundaries.

The letter states that Mishra has alleged that there has been extreme political interference from the ruling party in the process of drawing up ward boundaries for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections which are expected to be held in February 2022.

Mishra has raised points in the letter which says, “According to Section 18A of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act (MMC Act). the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the MCGM shall vest with the State Election Commission of Maharashtra (SECM). Further, as per section 19 of the MMC Act, it is the duty of the State Election Commissioner to from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, divide the area of Brihanmumbai into wards and specify the boundaries thereof, so that, as far as practicable, all wards shall be compact areas and the number of persons in each ward according to the latest census figures shall approximately be the same. However, the State Election Commissioner shall be duty bound to publish a draft of the boundaries to be set up in the official gazette and only after receiving and considering the suggestions and objections finalise the same.”

The letter further states that the last census was carried out in the year 2011. The demographics in the year 2021 are very different as compared to 2011. A decade is substantial enough time for the entire demography of a ward to change. Therefore, without the accurate data, that would be provided by a fresh census the ward boundaries should not be changed, modified or altered in any manner whatsoever.

Mishra has also accused the BMC commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal of sharing the data with Maharashtra CM, Uddhav Thackeray and by doing this, the Chahal instead of acting for the benefit of the citizens to have free and fair elections, is siding with the ruling party in the State of Maharashtra to provide them undue advantage.

Also, serious apprehensions that the Municipal Commissioner has manipulated the data. The Commissioner has collated the data from the wards, but after making the Chief Minister privy to the data made modifications and alterations to the data before submitting the same to the SEC.

Mishra has therefore demanded a forensic audit of the data provided by the Commissioner be conducted at the earliest in order to have a free and fair election in the city of Mumbai and for upholding the integrity of the election process. The subordinate election officers including the AETDO of the MCGM are directed immediately to freeze the data that they have submitted to the SECM.

An investigation be ordered into the role of the BMC Commissioner in sharing the demographic data with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and if it is found that that the Commissioner was involved in sharing the demographic data with the Chief Minister, then disciplinary action be ordered against the Commissioner.

BJP has also demanded the SEC should refrain itself from acting on the data provided by the Commissioner of MCGM.