Bengal assembly clears delimitation bills, Kolkata to have 209 municipal wards

The West Bengal assembly passed two bills on Thursday to increase the number of civic wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC). The KMC will go from 144 to 209 wards, while the HMC will expand from 50 to 68. State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Paul explained that the increase in wards will enable faster delivery of civic services to citizens due to smaller, more manageable ward populations.

The KMC initiated the process in mid-July to redraw the boundaries of 144 municipal wards based on population density, aiming for each new ward to have around 16,000-18,000 voters. A similar exercise took place in Howrah. Both city elections and their district counterparts are planned for later this year. Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning only three of the 144 wards in the 2021 KMC election, it now controls six of Kolkata's 11 assembly seats, including Bhabanipur, where Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari defeated his predecessor and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee in April.

The delimitation exercise may benefit the BJP ahead of municipal elections, likely to be held in November or December, according to political leaders. Some KMC wards have as few as 8,000-10,000 voters, while wards with significant Muslim populations have 50,000-60,000 voters. For instance, Ward 66, represented by TMC councillor Faiz Ahmed Khan, has approximately 80,000 voters, covering parts of Topsia, Tangra, and Tiljala.

The recent split within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in June, with Mamata Banerjee loyalists and rebels vying for party control, could result in triangular contests during the upcoming KMC elections. Political analyst and former Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen suggested that the Mamata Banerjee faction may not play a significant role in the November KMC elections, as more than 60 of the TMC's 80 MLAs and 20 of the 29 Lok Sabha members have left her party.