Pune: Following the Supreme Court’s order, the path has been cleared for local body elections in Maharashtra. Accordingly, the state government has instructed local self-government bodies to begin the process of drawing up new ward boundaries. For the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the structure will remain the same as 2017, with each ward consisting of four elected representatives. However, given that new villages have been merged into the PMC, there is significant interest in how ward boundaries will be reorganized.
Former corporators have observed that while 16 corporators will decrease from the old PMC limits, 16 will be added in newly merged villages. This has raised speculation about which former corporators may lose their seats and which new faces will emerge. However, the final picture will only become clear after the official announcement from the PMC.
Former opposition leaders Ujjwal Keskar and Suhas Kulkarni, along with former corporator Prashant Badhe, have noted these observations.
In the upcoming Pune Municipal Corporation elections, a total of 165 corporators will be elected. In the 2017 elections, 162 corporators were elected, which increased to 164 with two corporators from each of the eight newly merged villages. When drawing up ward boundaries then, a 15% increase in the population of the existing municipal area was considered, bringing the estimated total to 3.5 million. However, for the new restructuring, no such increase will be considered. The current population of the old Pune Municipal Corporation is 3,124,000, and with the inclusion of 32 villages—9 entirely and 23 partially—the additional population is 357,000. Hence, this time, with 165 corporators and four per ward, each ward will have an average population of 85,000, allowing a margin of 5-10% variation, they explained.
Former corporators have noted the following:
Based on the population of the new villages, there will be four-member wards created in those areas, ensuring that 16 corporators will be elected from the new villages.
Under the new structure, the municipal corporation will have 41 or 42 wards. If four wards are deducted for the new villages, the remaining wards in the old PMC limits will reduce to 37. This means only 148-149 corporators will be elected from the old PMC limits instead of the current 162, indicating that 16 seats will be lost from the old wards.
Therefore, it is estimated that at least 16 current corporators will not have a seat to contest. However, the final outcome will depend on the actual ward formation and the representation given to the 32 newly merged villages. Whether the new villages receive only four to six corporators or more will also be important to watch.
This estimation is based on an analysis of the last ward structure and the present one, along with the current population.
Former corporators also raised the concern that reducing seats from the old Pune areas and allocating them to the new villages based on the 85,000 population per ward will have significant political consequences. If the newly merged villages do not receive adequate representation or if seats decrease disproportionately in the old wards, this could lead to unrest. Hence, the administration must take careful note of this while preparing the new ward structure.
