Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Acting on the directives of the State Election Commission (SEC), the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) on Tuesday announced the social reservation for its upcoming municipal elections. The selection of reserved wards was carried out through a lottery system at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU) auditorium.
For the first time, the civic elections will be conducted under the prabhag system. The city has been divided into 29 prabhags — 28 consisting of four wards each, and one with three wards — making up a total of 115 wards.
Out of these, 50 per cent (55 wards) have been reserved for candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) categories. The distribution includes 31 seats (16 for women) for OBCs, 22 seats (11 for women) for SCs, and 2 seats (1 for a woman) for STs. Additionally, 60 wards (30 for women) have been designated under the General category.
The lottery draw was conducted in four phases by students from the CSMC School in Begumpura. The sequence began with the reservation of 11 wards for SC women, followed by one ward for an ST woman, 16 wards for OBC women, and finally 30 wards for women under the General category.
The auditorium witnessed an enthusiastic crowd of citizens, former corporators, and aspiring candidates, all eager to know the reservation status of their respective wards. The proceedings concluded in couple of hours.
Each Prabhag Reserved for Two Women Candidates
According to SEC guidelines, each prabhag comprises four wards labeled A, B, C, and D. Out of these, two wards in every prabhag have been reserved for women candidates.
Civic Officials Supervise the Process
Under the leadership of Municipal Commissioner G. Sreekanth and the supervision of Additional Commissioner Ranjit Patil, around 125 officers and staff managed the event. Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Election Branch) Vikas Navale meticulously planned the draw process, which was conducted in descending order based on population figures. Additional Commissioner Kalpita Pimpale, Deputy Commissioners Nandkishore Bhombe, Aparna Thete, Lakhichand Chavan, and Ankush Pandhare, along with Chief Auditor Shivaji Naikwade, also took part in the proceedings.