The decision of increasing three electoral wards each in Mumbai, western and eastern suburbs has not gone down well with the fishing community—one of the early inhabitants of the island city. Earlier this week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation released the first draft list of 236 electoral ward boundaries for the upcoming polls by adding nine new wards to the existing 227. A total of 94 fishing settlements are located in and around the city limits and 31 of these are koliwadas while the remaining 63 are gaothans.

Koli votes split

“The BMC’s strategy to announce and redraw the new electoral map is skewed. This will severely hamper our prospects of getting representation and dent our votes. We are asking for representation on the basis of our community’s population in Mumbai. This is an attempt to break the votes and unity of the fisherfolk. This divide-and-rule policy is not healthy. Cuffe Parade and Colaba have approximately 4,500 and 6,500 voters, respectively. Worli Koliwada too has now been split in wards 199 and 200,” said Devendra Tandel, president of Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti.