In 4-member ward system, NMC to have 151 corporators again

Nagpur: It is back to square one for Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), as the BJP-Shiv Sena (Balasaheb) government on Wednesday restored the four-member Prabhag (ward) system which existed in Maharashtra in 2017 when the last civic polls were held.
Sources in Mantralaya said that now NMC would have 151 corporators and 38 wards like the previous term. In the three-member ward system introduced by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, the number of corporators had increased to 156 while the number of wards had swelled to 52.
TOI was first to publish a detailed news on July 17 about plans of the two-member cabinet (led by chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis) to reintroduce the four-member Prabhag system for the forthcoming civic polls.
The MVA government led by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had scrapped the four-member system during the winter assembly session held in Nagpur in 2019. The three coalition partners – Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena — had initially brought back single-member ward system, which they thought would benefit them.
After facing opposition from its own netas, the MVA government had introduced three-member ward system across all corporations. The BJP, which was in opposition then, had vehemently opposed the move to scrap the four-member system.
Sources said the two-men cabinet cited lack of information about the exact number of voters behind its decision to restore the old system, as the 2021 population census could not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The four-member system would definitely give BJP an edge, said sources who added that civic polls which were scheduled to take place in September would be now pushed to November, most probably after Diwali, as the entire exercise of redrawing the wards of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backwards Communities and Women, would have to be completed again.
NMC commissioner Radhakrishnan B said he would be able to provide exact information by Thursday.
Confirming that NMC would have 151 corporators as per the new system, BJP city president Pravin Datke told TOI that many members from the former MVA government, particularly from Congress, had opposed the three-member ward system.
“We worked hard for five years and, therefore, do not have any issues with any ward system. We will be going to people presenting our progress card. We have changed the city’s face under guidance of Union minister Nitin Gadkari and deputy CM Fadnavis. We are confident of winning 120 seats. Voters know how the MVA had stopped all funds meant for Vidarbha in the last two and a half years,” he said.
BJP MLC Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the Shinde-Fadnavis government has rectified the blunder committed by MVA government. “The Thackeray government had increased the number of councillors under the pretext that the population grew by 4.5%. The government has the right to change the ward boundaries but not to increase the seats,” he said.