Cong, BJP members mull legal action on MCD wards delimitation

A section of Congress and BJP workers in Delhi are mulling to move court over reservation in municipal wards claiming after delimitation most of the seats in some assembly segments have been reserved in "violation" of rotation principle, leaving no room for general candidates.
The North West Lok Sabha constituency is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and its Sultanpur Majra and Mongolpuri Assembly segments are also SC reserved.
After delimitation and reservation by Delhi Election Commission, four wards each in the two Assembly constituencies have also been reserved leaving no chance for general candidates to contest polls from there, claimed several BJP and Congress members whose plans to contest municipal elections have been dashed.

In Sultanpur Majra, two wards each are reserved for SC and SC(Women) candidates, while in Mongolpuri constituency, two are reserved for SC, one for SC(W) and one for Women candidates, said a Congress worker from North West Delhi.
"I am preparing to file a case in the concerned court to challenge this reservation system. It will be filed after consulting lawyers on Monday," he said on condition of anonymity.
In 2012, the odd numbered wards were reserved for women while the even ones were left open for general candidates. Now, this should have been rotated with odd-numbered wards left unreserved for general and even-numbered reserved for women candidates, said Jagdish Mamgai, ex BJP councilor from Kotla Mubarakpur.

"This is not fair as it violates the principle of rotation of seats. I will go to court against this violation in a few days," Mamgai said.

Contrary to the sentiments of the affected members of their party, both BJP and Congress have accepted the reservation order of Delhi State Election Commission as "final" needing no further intervention.
In fact, he said, Delhi BJP has welcomed clubbing of wards for SC and SC(W) candidates, claiming that it was party's suggestion to the Election Commission.
Similar is the case with Gokulpur constituency reserved for SC, whose all four wards are reserved SC and SC(W) candidates, Mamgai said.

In Karol Bagh and Trilokpuri Assembly constituencies reserved for SC, all the wards have been reserved, he claimed.
There are a total of 272 municipal wards -- 104 each in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and 64 in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).
The number of seats reserved for SC and SC(W) are 10 each in NDMC, 7 and 8 respectively in SDMC, and 5 and 6, respectively in EDMC.
Out of remaining 226 seats, the seats reserved for Women candidates are 42 in NDMC, 45 in SDMC and 27 in EDMC.