MCG polls likely after 2 months, new panel set up for ward delimitation

GURGAON: The urban local bodies (ULB) department on Friday constituted a new ad hoc committee for the delimitation of wards under the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG).
The new panel will discuss the delimitation draft prepared by the district administration before sending the same to the state government for approval, officials said.
Apart from the deputy commissioner, the MCG commissioner or his representative and the ULB director or his representative, the panel also has former mayor Vimal Yadav, former deputy mayor Sunita Yadav, former senior deputy mayor and BJP leader Yashpal Batra, former BJP Gurgaon president Bhupender Chauhan and a resident named Ranjit from Choma village as members. The committee will be headed by deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav.
“Now that the ad-hoc body has been formed, we will hold a meeting of the committee on March 9. The delimitation draft will be discussed and subsequently finalised in the meeting and then we will send the draft to the state government for the final approval,” said Yadav. On when the elections are likely to be held, the DC said, “It will take nearly two months to hold the municipal polls.”
The term of the councillors ended on November 2 last year and the elections have been pending since then. The Haryana government on July 15 last year notified that the number of wards in Gurgaon will be increased from the existing 35 to 40 on the basis of a population survey.
It also decided that seven out of a total of 40 seats will be reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and 14 for women, including three SC women.
According to the Haryana Municipal Corporation Delimitation of Ward Rules, 1994, a corporation with a population between 9 and 10 lakh will have 32 wards, between 10 and 12 lakh will have 35, between 12 and 15 lakh will have 40 wards and the corporation exceeding a population of 15 lakh has to have 45 wards.
According to the delimitation survey done by a private agency, the population for Gurgaon was estimated to be 24.13 lakh. The population survey was, however, rejected by the former ad hoc committee members after which it was decided that that delimitation will be ascertained on the basis of the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) data.
In August last year, the ULB department constituted the ad hoc bodies for the delimitation of wards under the MCG and MCM.
The panel for the delimitation of wards under the MCG was dissolved in January this year.
It comprised seven former councillors besides the MLAs of Gurgaon and Badshahpur, former mayor, the ULB director or his representative, and the MCG commissioner or his representative.