The Delhi Congress charged on Thursday that the BJP is attempting to reduce minority representation through ward delimitation ahead of the municipal elections.
The unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi now has 250 wards, up from the 272 wards that existed prior to the delimitation process. 42 wards must be reserved for Scheduled Castes out of the 250 available.
The Congress, which went to court to stop the delimitation process, claims that it was done to reduce the importance of minorities and Dalit votes in many wards.
‘The BJP has always been against minorities and Dalits. Through this new delimitation, they have tried to reduce the representation of minorities and Dalits. The AAP remains silent on such issues but the Congress will always fight for the rights of the minorities and Dalits,’ said Chaudhary Anil Kumar, president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC).
According to Parvez Alam, vice chairman of the DPCC’s media department, the delimitation has been done so that minority groups are restricted to specific wards.
‘In the Sarita Vihar area, there were considerable number of Muslim voters in three wards and significant proportion of Muslim voters were there in the fourth ward. However, the delimitation has confined the Muslim voters to only two wards. This is a clear indication that BJP is trying to contest local body elections by undermining the representation of minorities and Dalits. Similar delimitation has been done in Dalit and minority stronghold wards in north west and north east Delhi,’ said Alam.
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