Delhi civic polls not likely before 2023, experts say

With the Centre forming a panel to carry out a fresh delimitation of municipal wards in Delhi, the city may not see civic polls for another year, according to experts, who called the redrawing of constituencies an “extensive exercise.”

The polls were earlier slated to be held in April this year, but were deferred as the three municipal corporations were united into a sole civic body, coming into existence on May 22.

The Union Home Ministry has set up a three-member commission to carry out the delimitation of the municipal wards in Delhi, according to a statement issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Saturday.

The exercise will pave the way for civic polls in Delhi, which would be the first since the reunification of three corporations in May.

Former Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said delimitation is an "extensive exercise" and may take a year or a year-and-a-half.

"Besides, public can raise objections and public representatives can also approach the commission with suggestions. So, I don't foresee an election at least for a year from now," he said.

Asked, how soon the delimitation exercise can be conducted, Mehta, also a former state election commissioner, Delhi, said that “it depends who is doing the exercise, and how much time they will take. Someone can do it in less time too.”

"It took me a year-and-a-half to do it, when I was the state election commissioner," he added.

Union Home Ministry has selected Vijay Dev, State Election Commissioner, Delhi, to chair the delimitation panel, with Pankaj Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Randhir Sahay, Additional Commissioner, MCD, as its other two members.

The order issued by the MHA on July 8, a copy of which was shared by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Twitter on Saturday.

The commission is to complete the exercise and present its report within four months of the issue of the order.

Mehta said that completion of delimitation exercise is one thing, but it is the government which has to notify it, and hypothetically, if someone challenges any aspect of it in a court of law, it can further delay the elections.

The Parliament on April 5 had passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill-2022 to unify three civic bodies in the national capital, with the Rajya Sabha nodding to the move through a voice vote after having negated all amendments sought by the opposition.

Sources at the State Election Commission here had earlier said that after passing of the reunification bill, civic elections were likely to be delayed by around a year.

Since the bill talks about capping the number of wards to 250, the Centre will form a delimitation commission after the bill is passed by both the Houses of Parliament, they had earlier said.

"The delimitation exercise alone will take around 6-7 months. After the exercise is complete, its report has to be notified by the Centre and then the process of rotation of wards, and other poll exercises will be started. So overall it is likely to take a year to conduct municipal elections in Delhi," a source had said, soon after the passing of the bill.

Constitutional expert and former secretary, Delhi assembly, S K Sharma, said, “It's already mid-July, and delimitation exercise is likely to stretch to over six months. So, MCD polls are not likely to be held before 2023.”

"The administrative process for delimitation will take several months, and then public suggestions and objections will be elicited. MPs and MLAs would offer suggestions too. And, it is up to the government to notify it, after the exercise," said Sharma, also former secretary, Lok Sabha.

Mehta said that the duration of the exercise also depends on the methodology used, adding, “During my tenure, we had used geospatial mapping to do it. And each commission has discretion to use its own methodology. Besides, for extension of stipulated time period, the panel would have to request the Centre, if needed.”

The original MCD, established in 1958, was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshit's tenure as the Delhi chief minister. It was recently reunified by merging three civic bodies - North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations or NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC.

The previous three corporations in Delhi comprised 272 wards. While the North and South corporations accounted for 104 wards each, the East corporation had 64 wards under its jurisdiction.