22-06-2025
Congress alleges gerrymandering in JMC delimitation exercise
Jaipur: Congress party members have raised allegations of manipulation in the ongoing delimitation exercise of the merged Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC). The accusations primarily centre around the Kishanpole assembly constituency, where party members claim the process has been designed to fragment minority and specific caste vote banks to benefit the BJP.
The delimitation committee has significantly reduced the number of wards in the Kishanpole zone from 21 to 12, raising concerns among Congress members. Currently a Congress stronghold with 11 out of 21 councillors, party officials argue the new arrangement would limit their winning potential to just four or five seats. Yunus Qureshi, former secretary of the Congress party's minority cell, highlighted specific instances of alleged manipulation.
He pointed out that the committee's final draft shows haphazard ward formation, with overlapping boundaries that appear designed to split Congress vote banks. Qureshi cited the example of Ward 56, where selective merging with areas from Wards 55 and 63 has allegedly been done to create an artificial electoral balance favouring the BJP.
The impact on minority representation appears particularly significant. Abdul Khan, a senior Congress councillor from JMC Heritage, noted that the number of Muslim-dominated wards has been reduced from 33 to just 15 in the new arrangement.
Currently, there are 30 Muslim councillors in JMC Heritage and three in JMC Greater from the Congress party.
The reduction in the total number of wards is expected to intensify internal party conflicts during candidate selection, with Congress potentially having to sacrifice around 50 prospective candidates. "Congress is already infested with infighting. The infighting would increase when the party finalises the list of candidates, sacrificing at least 50 prospective candidates," said councillor Khan.
ADM (II) Jaipur, Ashish Kumar, confirmed that the final draft of the delimitation map is currently undergoing clerical corrections and will be finalised by the state govt within the next few days.
