Who benefits? West Bengal’s ward delimitation sparks minority fears

The West Bengal government’s decision to redraw the wards of the Kolkata and Howrah municipal corporations ahead of civic polls has become a political flashpoint, with opposition parties and sections of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) questioning its potential impact on electoral equations, particularly in minority-dominated areas.

The proposed changes are substantial. Kolkata’s wards will increase from 144 to 209 and Howrah’s from 50 to 68. The government says the objective is administrative efficiency and more equitable representation, with ward sizes being rationalised on the basis of population and voter numbers. But the political implications are potentially far greater: changing ward boundaries can reshape the electoral weight of communities and alter the prospects of individual parties and candidates ahead of the civic polls.

The issue is particularly sensitive in Kolkata because several existing wards have significant minority concentrations. A delimitation exercise can affect such communities even without explicitly using religion as a criterion. Splitting a concentrated minority population across several wards can dilute its ability to influence the election of councillors, while merging areas can have the opposite effect. The KMC’s own delimitation exercise had earlier identified around 15 minority-dominated wards that could be split or merged with neighbouring wards to achieve greater parity in voter numbers.

That has given a religious dimension to what the government describes as an administrative exercise. The political question is not simply whether every ward has a broadly comparable number of voters, but how the redrawing affects existing concentrations of political influence — and whether minority representation is strengthened, diluted or merely redistributed.

Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has rejected suggestions that the exercise is arbitrary. Responding to concerns in the Assembly, he said, "We are not creating a new map simply by drawing boundaries and determining population figures arbitrarily." He stressed that "there are specific rules for this" and that the State Election Commission would oversee the subsequent process.

But adherence to a formal procedure does not, by itself, settle the political question. Delimitation can follow prescribed rules while still producing outcomes that benefit some political constituencies over others. That is why transparency over the criteria, maps and population data is crucial.

Former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim — now part of the 'rebel' TMC camp — has not opposed delimitation in principle but has questioned the policy behind the exercise. "I do not oppose ward delimitation in principle. But what is the policy guiding this delimitation?" he asked, arguing that elected representatives and political parties should have been consulted before the boundaries were effectively determined.

The Left has gone further. CPI(M) leader Md Salim alleged that the process contained "many hidden things" and complained that political parties had been given too little time to respond. He said the notice was served on 8 August with a back date of 6 August and objections were invited by 13 August. He also questioned the adequacy of the maps supplied to political parties.

Salim alleged that his party's analysis had detected "gerrymandering" and described the exercise as a "pack and crack" strategy. His accusation was explicit: "This is BJP RSS game plan behind the delimitation of the wards."

The charge is politically significant because the BJP is seeking to consolidate its control over Kolkata and Howrah after coming to power in the state. The proposed redrawing comes just months before civic elections and could alter the terrain on which the parties will contest them.

Kunal Ghosh, representing the Mamata Banerjee-aligned TMC faction, argued that "delimitation cannot take place like this", claiming that councillors and residents had not been properly consulted. His allegation that the process was designed "to favour their own party leaders and some puppet opposition leaders" points to an internal TMC concern: the new boundaries could disrupt established local power structures and affect the political fortunes of sitting councillors and aspirants.

Congress leader Ashuosh Chatterjee similarly objected to the lack of an all-party meeting before the legislation was introduced, arguing that public representatives, relevant organisations and experts should have been consulted. His claim that "a same road has been divided in multiple wards" is the sort of technical question that should be addressed through publicly available maps and data rather than political assertion.

There is also a separate question over the final composition of the corporations. Former mayor and TMC veteran Sovandeb Chattopadhyay questioned whether all 209 Kolkata wards would actually be elected or whether some could be filled through nomination. Municipal affairs and urban development minister Agnimitra Paul rejected the suggestion, saying there was "no question of appointing nominated individuals" and that the Bill contained no such provision.