MBT sees MIM’s conspiracy in delimitation of GHMC Wards

The Majlis Bachao Tahreek (MBT) has raised serious objections over the delimitation of Divisions of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Making a representation to GHMC Commissioner & Special Officer B Janardhan Reddy on Tuesday, MBT President Dr. Khayam Khan and (Ex-Corporator) Amjed Ullah Khan alleged that the new boundaries of GHMC Divisions were drawn not by the officials, but MIM leaders. “The entire exercise has been carried out at MIM (Headquarters) Darussalam with the sole aim of sabotaging the winning prospects of MBT and candidates of other political parties,” the MBT leaders said.

Amjed Ullah Khan blamed former GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar IAS and Special Commissioner Navin Mittal IAS for the discrepancies in the delimitation of Municipal Divisions. He said that the GHMC officials have fallen prey to the conspiracy hatched by MIM to damage other parties. “MIM leaders always allied with the party-in-power to win Municipal Elections in Hyderabad. They influenced the delimitation of divisions in 2002 due to their alliance with the then ruling party TDP. They did the same thing in 2009 by joining hands with the then Congress Government and now they are using TRS Government to get divisions in a shape that could favour their winning chances,” he said.

The MBT leader said that former GHMC Commissioner Sri Somesh Kumar IAS and former Special Commissioner Naveen Mittal IAS has deleted 6.5 lakhs of voters in the areas inhabited by people of Seemandhra origin. But he did not show same enthusiasm to weed out Multiple & Bogus Voters from Hyderabad Parliamentary Constituency, he alleged. “The officials should learn from the recent transfer of Sri Somesh Kumar IAS and understand that favouring a particular political party would not help them in saving their post in the longer run. All officials should act in a non-partisan manner without favouring anyone,” he told Janardhan Reddy.

Amjed Ullah Khan said that there numerous discrepancies in the delimitation of divisions, especially in the South Zone of GHMC. He said that the preliminary notification of delimitation of wards in GHMC does not match with the map provided to us by the GHMC Headquarters. Further, the areas mentioned in the notification are different from those in the map.

“No scientific approach or criteria has been adopted for the delimitation. There is no clarity on delimitation of divisions. What are the rules? When were they framed? Who framed it and, on What Basis? Neither the political parties were not consulted nor were public opinion sought before publishing the draft. The delimitation exercise should have been confined to erratic areas, like too small or too big division. But the boundaries of all divisions, especially in the South Zone of GHMC, were disturbed,” he said adding that there was still no clarity on the number of voters in each division.

Amjed Ullah Khan pointed out that in some cases; the total number of electors exceeds the total population in some Divisions. For instance, in 17-8 Block of Chawni Municipal Division, the population is 19,994 while the total voters are 20,825 now. “This is completely illogical and unacceptable. Each and every human being, including new born children, is counted in population. But people above the age of 18 are eligible to become voters. Therefore, logically, the population should be at least 30% more than the voters,” he said.

The MBT also demanded that the GHMC extend the time period for submitting the objections/suggestion to one month, instead of just one week. (INN)