This time, Amdavadis to elect 192 councillors

The city will elect 192 corporators from 64 wards during the forthcoming elections of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

This is according a primary notification issued by the state election commission.

Earlier, the number of wards in AMC was 43 and the number of corporators being elected from these wards was 129. The commission has invited suggestions and objections regarding the delimitation of wards, within ten days.

Of the 192 seats, 100 will be for the general category and 92 seats will be reserved.

While 64 seats will be reserved for women, 21 seats will be reserved for candidates belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and one seat for those from scheduled tribes (ST).

Around 20 seats have been reserved for candidates from socially and educationally backward classes.

One seat in Girdharnagar ward has been kept reserved for an ST candidate. Kankaria, Naroda, Girdharnagar, Behrampura, Juna Vadaj, Saijpur-Bogha, Mahavirnagar, Gomtipur, Amraiwadi, Ambawadi, Meghaninagar, Chandkheda-Motera, Madhupura, Dudheshwar, Sabarmati, Arbudanagar, Danilimda, Jamalpur, Rakhial, Rajpur and Raikhad wards will have one reserved seat each for SC candidates. One seat in every ward will be for candidates of the open category.

The delimitation has been carried out on the basis of the 2001 census. There will be 70,399 voters on an average in each ward, with a relaxation of 10%.

The state election commission has formed new wards in the areas merged with the AMC around three years back, while some new wards have been formed by dividing old wards.

The newly formed wards include Gota, Chandlodia, Kali, Chandkheda-Motera, Ranip, Ghatlodia, Bodakdev, Nobelnagar, Meghaninagar, Sarkhej, Jodhpur, India Colony, Krishnanagar, Viratnagar, Vejalpur, Arbudanagar, Vastral, Indrapuri, Mahavirnagar, Lambha, Ghodasar and Ramol-Hathijan.

The present wards of Gandhigram, Potalia,Khokhra-Mahemdabad and Bagefirdosh have been cancelled and the areas falling under these wards have been divided to form new ones.

Corporators and political parties were  eagerly waiting for the notification of delimitation of wards, as this has a direct impact on their election strategy as well as the selection of candidates.

Meanwhile, the state election commission also issued primary notifications for Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara municipal corporations.

The final notification with regards to delimitation of all four municipal corporations will be issued after considering the suggestions and objections submitted by all the stake holders.