Maharashtra cabinet scraps MVA govt's decision to increase number of BMC wards

The Maharashtra cabinet led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday reversed the previous MVA governments decision to increase the number of municipal wards in Mumbai from 227 to 236 an official release saidThe coming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC will be held as per the old ward structure of 2017 it addedThe Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray last year increased the number of BMC wards from 227 to 236But at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday Shinde who toppled the Thackeray government in June by rebelling against Thackeray rolled back the decisionThe BMC thus will have 227 wards as beforeAlso Read Mumbai Chembur residents take ill owing to worminfested waterCongress leader Milind Deora welcomed the decision saying it was a big victory for his party and the people of MumbaiThe Maharashtra government has nullified the brazenly undemocratic wardwise delimitation orchestrated by Shiv Sena It was an insult to MVAs coalition dharma as well as to ordinary Mumbaikars the former MP tweetedLast month he had written to chief minister Shinde seeking scrapping of the new ward systemThe statement from the Chief Ministers Office meanwhile also said that the number of corporators in the other 26 municipal corporations in the state will be revised in proportion to populationThe minimum number of seats in a civic body with a population of three lakh to six lakh will be 65 and the maximum number will be 85 it saidThere will be an additional membercorporate for every 15000 people in these citiesCivic bodies with populations between six lakh to 12 lakh will have minimum 85 seats and maximum 115 seats For every 20000 voters there will be one additional memberFor civic bodies with more than 12 lakh population for every 40000 people there will be an additional memberIn cities with population of more than 24 lakh there will be an additional member for every 50000 peopleIn civic bodies with population of more than 30 lakh there will be an additional member for every one lakh peopleThe civic bodies with populations between 12 lakh to 24 lakh will have 115 to 151 seats while those with populations of more than 24 lakh and up to 30 lakh will have a minimum 151 and maximum 161 membersCivic bodies with more than 30 lakh population will have a minimum 161 and maximum 175 seats The cabinet currently comprising only Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday also decided to amend the Maharashtra Zilla Parishad Act 1961As per the amendment Zilla Parishads will have a minimum 50 and maximum 75 seatsAt present ZPs can have between 55 to 85 seatsThe decision was taken considering the declining population in rural areas the official release said