A high-level delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party Punjab, led by Ashwani Sharma, MLA and Working State President, today called on the Hon’ble Governor of Punjab at Raj Bhavan and submitted a detailed memorandum seeking immediate intervention against the arbitrary, hasty, and illegal ward delimitation being carried out by the Punjab Government for Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils across the State.
The BJP delegation apprised the Governor that the ongoing ward delimitation exercise is being conducted in undue haste, without transparency, and in blatant violation of statutory rules and constitutional principles. The memorandum highlighted that no proper door-to-door population survey has been conducted and that the proposed wards show an unnatural and unexplained decline in population figures across urban local bodies, raising serious doubts about the authenticity of the data used.
The delegation further pointed out gross violations of the principles of continuity and contiguity, with geographically disconnected areas being arbitrarily clubbed together. Serious concerns were also raised regarding the misuse of reservation norms, wherein wards with lower Scheduled Caste and Backward Class populations have been reserved, while areas with higher SC/BC concentration have been declared general wards.
Importantly, the BJP delegation drew attention to the Census notifications issued in connection with the 16th Census of India, which clearly mandate the freezing of municipal and ward boundaries during census operations—notifications issued under the authority of the Governor himself. Despite this, the Punjab Government is proceeding with delimitation in clear violation of these directions.
The delegation requested the Governor to summon the complete record from the Department of Local Government and direct the State Government to strictly adhere to census notifications, statutory provisions, and constitutional norms, thereby safeguarding democratic values and the rights of the people of Punjab.
Members of the delegation included: former Cabinet Minister and former State President Manoranjan Kalia, former MP and former State President Shwait Malik, former Union Minister Som Prakash, State Vice President Dr Subhash Sharma, State General Secretary Parminder Singh Brar, Core Committee Member and former MLA Kewal Dhillon, former MLA Fateh Singh Bajwa, State Media Head Vineet Joshi, State Legal Cell Head N K Verma, and Ranjit Gill.