MCC corporators wary of distributing wards

Mysuru: JD(S) corporators in Mysuru have urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to reconsider the State government’s decision in redrawing the boundaries of the 65 wards under Mysuru City Corporation (MCC). The boundaries of local wards under MCC were redrawn based on the 74^th Amendment of the Constitution, which stipulates change in reservation and altering the contours of wards, to ensure even distribution of population.

Some wards have a population of less than 5000, while others have an excess of 20,000. Therefore, the boundaries of all wards are being redrawn to maintain the average population within a range of 13,000-15,000. The problem here is that the term of the current MCC council ends on September 5, and local body elections will be conducted later this year. The corporators representing the wards fear that redrawing of boundaries of wards, division of wards and distributing it to neighbouring ones might end up costing them, as corporators lose their connect with voters.

Saraswathipuram (Ward No. 20), which is currently represented by former mayor R. Lingappa, has been divided into four parts and the name of the ward has been removed from the list. Lingappa said that the wards were divided without consulting the public, which was against the law. He said that JD(S) corporators had met the CM in Bengaluru and requested him to postpone the local body elections, in order to fix the situation.

Meanwhile, there is also a change in the wards reserved for women. Earlier, 30% of the wards were reserved for women, which amount to 23. Now, 33 out of the 65 wards under the MCC will be reserved for women. This also adds to the confusion of distribution of wards. Corporators feel that the government might take some time to settle the matter and hold elections to the local bodies in February.