Future of all political parties hangs in balance

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, June 2:

The publication of a rough draft of delimitation of 42 prabhags (and their maps) has shocked political parties and their established former corporators, today. Both the ruling party and opposition party members today seem to be sailing in the same boat of fear and disappointment about their future.

They expressed their disappointment and stressed that they would be filing objections in large numbers till June 16. It seems the new prabhags would be benefitting only a few countable political aspirants.

The approved rough draft has been released with some changes in the rough draft which was leaked on social media and got viral during the last week.

The dreams of Shiv Sena have been shattered as it would not be getting major relief. Gulmandi, which was considered its bastion, has been divided into three parts. The established corporators who were getting elected blindly for the past 20 years were shocked on seeing the new boundaries of their wards and their prabhag. Ironically, the wards from where the party could not garner any votes have been attached to many prabhags in the city.

The situation for BJP is also not so favourable. The wards which were its bastions have been delimited. Hence it will now have to struggle to maintain its existence within the new boundaries. The future of BJP’s Mission 60 in the forthcoming elections seems to be bleak. Getting all three candidates elected from any prabhags seems to be nearly impossible.

In 2015, the AMC has witnessed the political entry of AIMIM party by winning 24 seats. It was assumed that the party would be leading in Muslim dominated areas, but they also have been shocked as many Hindu dominated areas have been attached to the prabhags of the old city.

Former mayor (Shiv Sena)

Nandkumar Ghodele

“The rough draft is not favourable to us. Barring a couple of prabhags, the violation is there in all prabhags. It seems the parameters set by the State Election Commission (SEC) have not been followed. We will be submitting our objections and suggestions upon it.”

Former mayor (BJP)

Bhagwan Ghadamode

“We have found a violation of norms in many prabhags. Unwanted areas have been merged to form prabhags. The parameters implemented while attaching wards and forming prabhags are not clear. We will be submitting objections in large numbers. If needed, we will approach the court for justice.”

Former Group Leader (AIMIM)

Naser Siddiqui

“We could not understand the norms and guidelines followed by AMC while forming new prabhags. The population of three legislative assembly constituencies and the population within the AMC limit does not matches. There are huge mistakes. We will strongly oppose the process and register our objections in large numbers.”