Maharashtra legislature passes Bills allowing government to demarcate wards

The decision will delay the civic polls in the State

The Maharashtra legislature on Monday unanimously passed the Bills allowing the State government to take control of process to demarcate wards for civic polls and annul the earlier procedure. The move will delay the civic body polls in the State.

The move comes days after the Supreme Court refused to accept the interim report filed by the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission recommending 27% reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies. The State Cabinet had then passed a resolution to not hold polls until the reservation was restored. All the parties, including the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had supported the stand. The move to take over the ward demarcation process and annulling the earlier work would mean that the entire process would have to be restarted and it may take around six to seven months, delaying the elections. Till then the government hopes to complete the work on collecting data of the OBCs to restore their political reservation in the local bodies.

Urban Development Department (UDD) Minister Eknath Shinde and Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif presented the two Bills, which were passed by the Assembly and the Council unanimously. “These Bills will now be sent to the Governor for approval,” said Mr. Shinde.

The move is likely to attract legal hurdles as the State Election Commission has already initiated the process of demarcation of ward boundaries by publishing new ones and seeking suggestions and objections.

The legislature also cleared the Bill amending the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act for the appointment of an administrator as the present term of the civic body is set to end and elections are unlikely to be held soon.