The delimitation process ahead of the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections has reached its final stage, with the state government's 10-member Central Delimitation Committee proposing to increase the number of municipal wards from 144 to 200. The proposal aims to reduce disparities in voter distribution by maintaining an average of 16,000 to 18,000 voters in each ward. While 56 new wards have been proposed in rapidly expanding areas such as the EM Bypass, Tangra and Joka, several existing wards in Central and North Kolkata are set to be merged or restructured under the draft plan.
According to the proposal, several historic wards will undergo major administrative changes. Ward No. 23 under the Jorasanko Assembly constituency will be merged with Ward No. 22, while portions of Ward No. 25 will also be incorporated into Ward No. 22. Land areas will be exchanged between Ward Nos. 27 and 38. Ward No. 39 has been proposed to be merged into Ward Nos. 40 and 43, with around 3,000 voters shifting to Ward 40 and nearly 5,000 voters to Ward 43. Ward Nos. 41 and 42 are also proposed to be merged into a single new ward. In the Chowringhee Assembly constituency, Ward Nos. 47 and 51 will be combined, ending the independent existence of Ward No. 51. A significant portion of Ward 52 will be merged with Ward 53, around 9,000 voters will be transferred to Ward 61, and nearly 1,800 voters from Ward 62 will be added to Ward 53, with the remaining areas receiving a new administrative structure.
Municipal Corporation Administrator and Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey said the proposed changes are intended to address wide variations in voter strength across wards, with some currently having nearly 85,000 voters while others have only around 10,000. Under the proposal, smaller and sparsely populated wards will be merged, while geographically large wards such as Ward 58 (Tangra-Dhapa), Ward 66 (Topsia-Tiljala) and Wards 108 and 109 (Mukundapur-Sonarpur) will be divided to create six to eight new wards. The Central Delimitation Committee is expected to submit its final proposal to the Urban Development Department after considering reports from the Borough Committees, following which the official notification will be issued and the next KMC elections will be conducted under the proposed 200-ward structure.