Chennai: Moving one step closer to conducting local body elections in Tamil Nadu after more than a year, the Chennai corporation and other local bodies in the state have completed the delimitation process and the new list of wards is expected to be released next week.
The delimitation process, which is cited as the reason for the delay in conducting local body elections, has been carried out, according to the figures from the 2011 census.
The decision was taken in a meeting between state Election Commissioner and officials of municipal administration on Friday. “At the meeting, the state Election Commission directed the municipal administration officials to submit the report on delimitation process. It was also decided in the meeting that list of divisions and details of reserved seats for SC/ST and women would be released next week,” a Chennai Corporation official said. According to an insider, the new list of divisions would be released more likely on December 18. “It was first decided to conduct delimitation in a way to ensure every division having at least 33,000 voters. This was not tangible for the city and we have only sorted out border issues between the divisions,” the source added.
In Chennai, many roads fall under two or more divisions. This factor proves difficult in providing amenities. “Even though boundaries of some wards tweaked, the number of wards in Chennai Corporation will remain 200,” the official said.
Earlier the Chennai Corporation officials had said that after delimitation process, every division would have at least 33,000 voters. Following this DMK raised concerns that the number of divisions would decrease to 134 if officials continue with the 33,000 voters slab.
The state Election Commission is also planning to conduct the much-awaited local body election in the state in March or April.
