MUMBAI: The decision of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to bring back the multi-member system for civic bodies has upset alliance partner Congress, which fears losses in local body polls due to the new system.
Earlier, both Congress and NCP had demanded for single or twin member civic wards for municipal corporations. However, paying no heed to this, Shiv Sena went ahead for multi-member civic wards, which is unlikely to benefit the Congress. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole was vocal for single or a maximum of two members in the municipal corporation wards barring the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The MVA has now reversed its own earlier decision for single-member wards in 2019. Erstwhile chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had also brought in the multi-member system, which helped the BJP win as many as corporation seats.
According to a senior Congress leader, in the multi-member system, the votes of minorities and reserved classes get divided and this benefits BJP mostly. “In the single-member wards, the minority and reserved category electorates vote in a block and that benefits the Congress and the NCP.” However, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar brushed aside, saying that in an alliance government once a decision was taken, there was no point in nagging about it.