Ward delimitation violates statutory rules, BJP seeks Kataria’s intervention

A Punjab BJP delegation on Friday met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria at Lok Bhavan and submitted a memorandum seeking immediate intervention against the arbitrary, hasty and illegal ward delimitation being carried out by the Punjab Government for municipal corporations and councils across in the state.

Led by working state president Ashwani Sharma, the delegation told the Governor that the ongoing ward delimitation exercise was being conducted in undue haste, without transparency and in blatant violation of statutory rules and constitutional principles. The memorandum highlighted that no proper door-to-door survey was conducted and that the proposed wards show an unnatural and unexplained decline in population figures across urban local bodies, raising serious doubts about the authenticity of the data used.

Serious concerns were also raised regarding the misuse of reservation norms, wherein wards with lower Scheduled Castes and Backward Class populations have been reserved, while areas with higher SC/BC concentration have been declared general wards.

The delegation drew attention to the census notifications issued in connection with the 16th Census of India, which clearly mandate the freezing of municipal and ward boundaries during census operations — notifications issued under the authority of the Governor himself. Despite this, the Punjab Government was proceeding with delimitation, said Sharma. The delegation requested the Governor to direct the state government to strictly adhere to census notifications and statutory provisions.