In Rajasthan, a new front opens up in BJP-Congress tussle: Reunification of three big municipal corporations

In October 2019, former Urban Development Minister Shanti Dhariwal of the Congress announced the bifurcation of the three municipal corporations into two parts each. At present, two mayors run each of these cities. The number of municipal wards in these cities has also increased: from 91 to 250 in Jaipur, 65 to 150 in Jodhpur, and 65 to 160 in Kota.

BJP councillor Vimal Agarwal, from Ward 22 of Jaipur Municipal Corporation (Heritage), said the 2019 division was an unnecessary political move. “Ashok Gehlot wanted a Congress board in the city, hence he decided to carry out delimitation, that too in such a way that Muslim-dominated wards were carved out in the old city to benefit his party. As a result, there are 32 Muslim councillors in JMC (Heritage) at present, with whom they managed to form the board in the Heritage municipality. In comparison, earlier there were only nine Muslim councillors in the combined JMC. The entire plan was made to benefit the Congress and to spend more on resources,” alleged Agarwal.

In the urban civic polls conducted in October 2020, the Congress formed the boards in four of the six newly created municipal corporations, with the BJP forming boards in the other two. Where the BJP once had a stranglehold on local politics in the capital city, it now held only JMC (Greater).

When the JMC (Heritage) was created, Dhariwal claimed that the move would improve the upkeep of the UNESCO World Heritage City. However, since its conception, only one general body meeting has been called, with the budget getting ratified by the officials and the Mayor every year, without being presented at the general body meeting and then directly sent for approval to the state government.

BJP councillor Rajat Bishnoi, who represents JMC (Heritage) Ward 9, said, “Since the creation of multiple municipal corporations, neither were separate committees formed for various JMC (Heritage) works nor WERE chairpersons appointed for these bodies. Those who ran to officials and councillors for public works found that they did not have the power to implement these. Moreover, wards were created for areas with a population of 5,000 to 10,000, as opposed to 30,000 to 50,000 earlier. Due to this, people were confused about implementing developmental works. In some places, one street is divided into two wards. So, councillors and officials of both wards have to agree on the reconstruction of say, the road surface, for the work to be carried out. This type of confusion needs to be sorted.”

Meanwhile, Congress councillors in Jaipur have announced their opposition to the move at a meeting organised by the JMC (Greater) on Tuesday. Jaipur Congress president Sitaram Sharma told The Indian Express, “With smaller wards, councillors who were earlier unreachable have now become easily accessible. Groundwork has increased and the public has benefitted through this. We will not let reunification happen. If necessary, we will hold a march in Jaipur soon.”

The BJP government has already sent intimated Delhi about the reunification process in the three civic bodies. A municipal corporation official, on the condition of anonymity, said they had been instructed that the delimitation process would start soon. The government was waiting for the new Central government to settle down and the delimitation process would begin within a month, the official added.

Many sitting MPs and MLAs across party lines are former municipal councillors. According to BJP and Congress insiders, most of the 10 MLAs in Jaipur city — seven BJP and three Congress — are happy with how things stand now. A Congress leader said a sitting councillor with the support of 40,000 voters was often viewed as a threat by the local MLA because they were potential ticket contenders in state elections. That is why MLAs across parties were happy when the power of councillors was slashed, giving local MLAs the ultimate say in city politics, said the Congress functionary.

In the past four years, in both JMC Heritage and Greater, local MLAs have influenced and interfered with the work of the mayors. In JMC (Heritage), a tussle between several MLAs made it difficult for the mayor to work. JMC (Greater) Deputy Mayor Puneet Karnawat, the BJP’s Urban Local Body Committee’s state convener, told The Indian Express, “Apart from administrative problems, there is interference of MLAs, especially in JMC (Heritage). In the entire Heritage area, boards with names of MLAs are erected to take credit for any development work done in the area. Every civic work is inaugurated by the MLA, and if a councillor even tried to put his name forward, he would have to back off later on. With one corporation, such works will be solely in the hands of the councillors.”

Karnawat claimed that the preparatory work for the latest delimitation had begun. “At first, we will carry out delimitation, including lowering the number of wards from 250 to 125-150 in Jaipur. We will also increase the JMC jurisdiction to include new areas adjacent to Jaipur city.”