Pune: PMC deadline for submission of draft for electoral panel delimitation extended

The State Election Commission has extended the deadline given to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration for submitting the draft for delimitation of the electoral panel for the forthcoming civic polls.

The poll panel had earlier directed the PMC administration to complete the draft of delimitation by November 30 but the latter sought extension of 15 days.

“The municipal corporations of Aurangabad, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad had requested to extend the deadline to submit the draft of delimitation. Thus, it has been decided to extend the deadline with directions to complete the draft for delimitation by December 5 and submit it to the commission on December 6,” said Avinash Sanas, deputy commissioner of State Election Commission, in a communication to the PMC.

“We are still working on it. It is a tedious process. We had started the delimitation process on time but the state government’s decision to increase the number of corporators in PMC has made us start the process from scratch,” said a civic officer.

The process of delimitation has been clearly defined but there are specific directions to make it flawless so that it cannot be challenged in the high court, he said, adding, “Thus, we are very careful and minutely drawing the lines of electoral panel.”

The number of corporators for PMC has been increased from 164 to 173 for the next five-year term. The ongoing term of PMC would get over on March 15 next year.

The 173 corporators would be elected on the basis of three-member electoral panel system with three members from 57 electoral panels and two corporators from a two-member electoral panel. The decision for three-member electoral panel election for municipal corporation was declared recently by replacing the earlier system of four-member electoral panel.

In 2017, the civic elections were held in four member wards. The PMC had a total of 162 members elected through 41 wards, that included 39 wards with four members and two wards with three members. Later, two more members were elected with inclusion of 11 new villages in civic jurisdiction.