MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill reversing a decision of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government to increase the number of wards in the Mumbai civic body from 227 to 236.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party supported the amendment to reverse the previous government's decision on wards in the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation where the elections are due.
The NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena spoke against the amendment by highlighting a Supreme Court decision directing for a status quo.
But Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made it clear that the apex court directive was in another case pertaining to quota for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
"Our ordinance is for reversing the number of wards from 236 to 227. There is no legal impediment," he said.
Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray said the bill was "unconstitutional, just like the government". But, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, "In a democracy, numbers are important. We have the majority. We have not acted unconstitutionally."
Shinde also accepted MLA Sada Sarvankar's demand for an inquiry by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into the previous government's decision to increase the number of wards.
The CM said even though he was the urban development minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government, policy-making is always a collective decision.
Amin Patel (Congress) said ward delimitation was done to "benefit a particular party" and was not in the interest of the citizens of Mumbai. Raees Sheikh (of the Samajwadi Party) said the delimitation of wards was a manipulation done to help a "particular party".
It was done to target corporators from other parties who worked for several years by breaking the wards they represented, he claimed. Both Patel and Sheikh did not name any party.
Amit Satam (BJP) said in the 2011 census, there was 3.87 per cent increase in population and since it was a minimal increase, the wards were not increased in 2017.
But the number was increased by nine wards by the previous government, which was illegal, he claimed. Speaker Rahul Narvekar said courts cannot decide on the enactment of legislation. It is the prerogative of the legislature.
Chief Minister Shinde said his government received 892 complaints against the delimitation of wards by the previous government.