Over 400 complaints received in Ernakulam over delimitation draft

Over 400 complaints have been received with regard to the draft of the delimitation of wards of local bodies with the last date for submission of complaints set to end on Wednesday.

As on Tuesday evening, 411 complaints have been received with more continuing to be lodged. The complaints relate to all 96 local bodies – 82 grama panchayats, 13 municipalities, and the Kochi Corporation. Variation in the number of households and boundaries of the delimited wards were among the most commonly raised complaints.

“Soon after the deadline, the complaints will be sorted and handed over to the inquiry officers assigned to each local body. In most cases, returning officers for the local bodies concerned have been appointed as inquiry officers. We had given a day’s training to the officers on how to verify the complaints and submit reports,” said Election department sources.

The inquiry officers are supposed to submit their reports to the district election department by December 18 and the verified reports will have to be forwarded to the Delimitation Commission by December 26.

Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have lodged complaints about the delimitation exercise. Among other things, the Congress complained about how delimitation had left the number of households and population in many divisions in Kochi Corporation violative of the delimitation guidelines.

“As per the delimitation draft, the average number of households and population in each divisions from divisions 1 to 10 and 22 to 30 in West Kochi were 2,791 and 7,172 respectively. This was 9.46% lower than the allowed population as per the guidelines. Adding another division in West Kochi will help rework the number of households and population to 3,110 and 7,993, which would be only 0.89% more than the limits fixed by the guidelines and hence permissible,” the complaint said.

The BJP found the violation of natural boundaries in delimitation of wards problematic. “There were discrepancies with regard to the number of voters in wards across local bodies in the district where the party has influence. Even the permanent polling booths have been overlooked during delimitation. Unless our complaints are resolved, we will take legal recourse,” said BJP district president K.S. Shaiju.