Before the Congress can prepare itself for the crucial Mumbai civic polls, its leaders are appealing to the party high command to intervene and ensure the party’s survival. According to Congress leaders, a coordinated effort is being made to weaken the party ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
The Congress is primarily angry with the Shiv Sena, alleging that it is trying to wipe out the Congress from Mumbai. The leaders of the oldest party say that attempts are being made to weaken the party in Mumbai and the BMC administrator is being used against the Congress.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in BMC Ravi Raja has alleged that some Congress leaders were targeted under a pre-planned scheme and changes were brought in their wards.
Also read: | Delimitation of Mumbai wards on the basis of population census of last 3 decades: Maha to Bombay HC
“The largest party, Shiv Sena, has forgotten that the Congress is also a part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in the state. The lottery system of ward reservation should have been done in a new way now that the boundaries have been changed keeping in mind the population growth, but it did not happen. Around 21 Congress leaders in BMC will be affected as their ward reservations have changed,” Raja told India Today TV.
Asked whether the Congress’s representation in the BMC has come down in the last few years, Ravi Raja said the party will ensure that the next mayor will be from Mumbai. “We are strategizing these days. Our target is to win 60-65 seats. But the high command needs to see that the Congress and its interests in the MVA alliance are not harmed.
today @INCMumbai Councilors met at MRCC office to discuss ward reservation @mybmc Election. All the corporators are very upset with this system and they feel that injustice has been done to them. He is hopeful that the party high command will look into it and resolve the issue.@milinddevra pic.twitter.com/Kgjjy2CsF3
— Ravi Raja Congress (@ravirajaINC) 4 June 2022
BMC has 236 wards. Of these, 50 per cent or 118 wards are reserved for women. Of these, 109 are reserved for general category women, eight for scheduled caste women and one for scheduled tribe women. In the civic body, wards of prominent faces like Ravi Raja of Congress, Yashwant Jadhav of Shiv Sena, Vinod Mishra of BJP and Raees Sheikh of SP are reserved for women.
But it is Congress, which is feeling the pinch of the delimitation exercise in the wards, which has objected to the lottery draw, saying it is still looking for legal avenues for redress.
The delimitation exercise was conducted in February and the number of electoral wards was increased from 227 to 236. The boundaries of the ward were changed.
For the Congress, the party reservation has changed for 21 out of the total 29 corporators. The number of councilors of the Congress party has been gradually decreasing over the years. While the number was 75 in 2007, it dropped to 52 in 2012 and then to 29 in 2017.
An angry Ravi Raja said that he has been contesting elections since 1992 and since he is a well-known face and his work has been seen by all, he will be ready to work as per the directions of the party. “But this is a systematic plan to wipe out the Congress,” he alleged.
biggest casualty of @mybmcWard has been booked @INCIndiaDespite being an MVA ally. Political alliances cannot be one-sided.
I will raise this issue on behalf of our municipal councilors under the leadership of the party.@Rahul Gandhi@priyankagandhi https://t.co/b6JiHeinXO
— Milind Deora (@milinddevra) 5 June 2022
Congress leader Milind Deora took to Twitter on the issues and said that he would take up the matter with the authorities in Delhi.