BJP hails 4-member ward, Cong, NCP flay

Nagpur: A day after the Maharashtra government restored four-member Prabhag (Ward) system, the local BJP leaders gave thumbs up the decision as many of them had lost hopes of getting a ticket.
On the other hand, opposition flayed the two-men cabinet for taking such decisions in a haste without thinking about its repercussions. They said, the ward system was changed thrice in last five years which would not augur well for the democracy and send wrong signals.
“It was chief minister Eknath Shinde himself who had insisted on the three-member ward system when he was minister for the concerned department in the Maha Vika Aghadi (MVA) government. Our leaders from the city had opposed it that time. In three or four member wards, the corporators often pass buck on each other for the citizens’ work and ultimately no one does it. It is the common problem in entire state. At least, the area of each corporator should be earmarked so that they should not point out fingers at each other,” former guardian minister Nitin Raut told TOI.
He said the people then approached them when none of the corporators work. “We need to pay attention to their issues. The new government has cited 2011 census for its decision of reverting to 4-member ward system. We are now in 2022 and there is an increase in population. Also, the territorial limits have increased in last decade like many villages from Kamptee are in NMC limits,” he said.
East Nagpur MLA Krishna Khopde, who was in Mumbai when the decision was made, said the Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government’s move would benefit all, including the OBC community. “There were many flaws in three-member system. Many aspirants became ineligible to contest earlier. The delimitation exercise should be conducted again considering current population of over 30 lakh. Earlier, delimitation was done as per 2011 census, but drastic changes took place in the city in the last decade,” he said.
NCP city chief Duneshwar Pethe said the BJP- Shiv Sena (Shinde camp) government was violating the Supreme Court’s directives which had called for holding the civic polls within two weeks. “They may introduce four to six members in a ward, but the public will decide their fate. The people are already fed up with their misrule in last five years. Even Shinde and Fadnavis knew that they would suffer a setback if they held elections at this stage. Hence, they are finding ways to defer it,” he told TOI.