Municipal poll aspirants disappointed as ward count cut in old Gajwel town

Aspirants in Gajwel municipality are disappointed as the government limits wards to 14 in the old town, despite increased voter strength from merged R&R colonies, reducing their election opportunities.

Siddipet: Aspirants preparing to contest as ward members in Gajwel municipality have been left disappointed as the government has restricted the number of wards in the old Gajwel town to 14.

During the previous municipal elections, Gajwel municipality had 20 wards with nearly 32,000 voters. Following the construction of rehabilitation and resettlement colonies for eight villages displaced under the Mallanna Sagar project near Gajwel town, these R and R colonies were later merged with the municipality. Although the voter strength increased to 46,740 after the merger of the R and R colonies, the government decided to retain the overall number of wards at 20.

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Residents of Singaram, Erravally, Etigadda Kistapur, Pallepahad, Vemulaghat, Banjerupally, Lakshampur and Lakshampur Thanda, which were displaced under the Mallanna Sagar project, are now living in the R and R colonies. While these colonies have been accommodated within six wards, the old Gajwel town has been restricted to just 14 wards.

As a result, those who contested from 20 wards in the 2019 municipal elections will now have to compete for only 14 wards, while aspirants from the R and R colonies will contest the remaining six wards. While each ward had around 1,200 to 1,500 voters in the 2019 elections, the number of voters per ward has increased to about 2,500 this time.

Several leaders from different political parties have met officials in the past, demanding an increase in the number of wards. However, the government has decided to continue with the same number of wards, denying opportunities to several aspirants, they alleged.