Mumbai Civic Polls: Congress Unhappy with Ward Reservation, Accuses Shiv Sena of Bid to Weaken Party

The Congress has accused its alliance partner Shiv Sena in Maharashtra of trying to wipe out the party from Mumbai. The accusation comes even before the grand old party could make preparations for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. Congress corporators are reportedly unhappy with the ward reservation and met on Monday to discuss the delimitation exercise.

Mumbai Congress leaders are set to make an appeal to the party high command to ensure that the party gets a fair part to play as a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and continue its presence in the city. The Mumbai unit believes that an effort is being made to weaken the party before the civic body polls, and the Sena has a major part to play in it.

Congress leader and leader of opposition in the BMC, Ravi Raja alleged that some of the party leaders were being targeted through the changes brought about in their wards. He tweeted, “Today @INCMumbai corporators met at MRCC office to discuss ward reservation set for @mybmc elections. All corporators are quite upset with this arrangement and feel the injustice is made to them. They hope the party high command will look into it and solve the issue. @milinddeora.”

According to a report by India Today, Raja said, “The biggest party, the Shiv Sena, has forgotten that the Congress too is part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in the state. The lottery system for ward reservations should have been done in a new manner now that changes in boundaries have been brought about, keeping in mind the increase in population, but that hasn’t happened. Around 21 Congress leaders in the BMC will be affected as their ward reservations have changed.”

Congress leader Milind Deora also tweeted about the meeting, and tagged senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

“The greatest casualty of @mybmc’s ward reservation has been @INCIndia, despite being being an MVA ally. Political alliances cannot be one-sided. I will raise this issue on behalf of our Municipal Councillors with the party’s leadership. @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi”

There are 236 wards in the BMC. Of them, 50 per cent or 118 wards are reserved for women. Among these, 109 are reserved for women in the general category, eight for women from the Scheduled Castes and one from the Scheduled Tribes. Wards of many known faces in the civic body, like Congress’s Ravi Raja, Sena’s Yashwant Jadhav, BJP’s Vinod Mishra, and SP’s Rais Shaikh have been reserved for women.

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