Pune: In Pimpri, many stunned at size of panels; charges of manipulations fly thick

What stunned most was the area of their prabhags or panels. Earlier, two corporators were elected from one suburb, which had a small portion of other suburb attached to it. However, for the 2017 elections, three or four suburbs seemed to have been combined to elect four corporators. At least three panels, which had six corporators, have been merged to form one panel which will elect four corporators. “I will have to travel for three-four km everyday for campaigning from Kasarwadi to Dapodi, which will be quite a task,” lamented sitting corporator Asha Shendge.

The biggest shock came for eight corporators from four panels of Gandhinagar, Kharalwadi, Nehrunagar and Ajmera Colony. In the 2012 elections, eight corporators were elected from these areas. However, for the 2017 elections, only four corporators will be elected from the panel 9. “Our panel has the maximum voter count of over 59,600. This is the biggest ward. In the last elections, eight corporators were elected from this ward. But this time, only four will have the opportunity,” said corporator Geeta Mancharkar, adding that the civic polls have been given a somewhat unacceptable status of a mini-Lok Sabha election.

While several corporators grumbled over the wider boundaries of their panels, BJP leaders and poll aspirants justified the increased boundaries. “A three-km radius for a panel is not much for candidates when we compare with the huge areas for Vidhan Sabha or Lok Sabha elections,” said BJP leader Babu Nair. Sarang Kamtekar, another BJP leader, said,”The boundaries will be wider, but they will help in better development of a larger areas. Population has been taken as the criteria for demarcating boundaries. Some panels are wider because the population is spread over different areas. Some panels are not very large because the population is concentrated in smaller areas,” Kamtekar said.

Meanwhile, activist Maruti Bhapkar caused a quite a stir when he alleged that PCMC officials had violated the Official Secrets Act by leaking the information about panel demarcation much before announcing them officially. Even as PCMC officials were announcing the draw of lots, Bhapkar rushed near the podium and fired a volley of questions as to how the information was leaked to the media and PCB.com, a local news portal headed by BJP leader Sarang Kamtekar. Taken aback, Commissioner Waghmare said he would probe the matter.

Bhapkar said the panels has been demarcated in a manner that benefited BJP poll aspirants. “NCP and BJP have joined hands to make the layouts to their advantage… it was all a farcical exercise,” Bhapkar said, adding he would take up the matter with election officials. PCMC officials said those who having objections should submit it to their offices. “We will forward the objections to the State Election Commission, which is the appropriate authority in the case,” said Assistant Municipal Commissioner Yeshwant Mane. Mane said the average population for demarcating a panel has been taken as 54,000.