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Punjab BJP seeks guv intervention in ‘arbitrary’ ward delimitation exercise
The delegation urged the governor to direct the state government to strictly adhere to census notifications, statutory provisions, and constitutional norms.
A delegation of the Punjab BJP on Friday met governor Gulab Chand Kataria at Lok Bhavan and urged him to summon the complete record from the department of local government regarding delimitation of wards.
The delegation urged the governor to direct the state government to strictly adhere to census notifications, statutory provisions, and constitutional norms.
In a memorandum, the delegation led by Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma apprised the governor that the ongoing ward delimitation exercise is being conducted in “undue haste, without transparency, and in blatant violation of statutory rules and constitutional principles.”
The memorandum claimed that no proper door-to-door population survey has been conducted and that the proposed wards show an “unnatural and unexplained” decline in population figures across urban local bodies, raising serious doubts about the authenticity of the data used.
“Serious concerns were also raised regarding the misuse of reservation norms, wherein wards with lower Scheduled Caste and Backward Class populations have been reserved, while areas with higher SC/BC concentration have been declared general wards,” said Sharma.
The BJP delegation drew attention to the Census notifications issued in connection with the 16th Census of India, which clearly mandate the freezing of municipal and ward boundaries during census operations—notifications issued under the authority of the governor himself.
