Prabhag rejig to give BJP control in 9 of 10 NMC zones, Oppn cries foul

Nagpur: Claiming that ruling BJP is set to gain a clear majority in almost all zonal offices except Ashi Nagar after the reshuffle of prabhags, leader of opposition Sanjay Mahakalkar on Monday submitted a memorandum to mayor Neeta Thakre and municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar, accusing the ruling party of using its overwhelming strength in the general body to redraw zonal arithmetic in its favour.The move comes days after March 20 NMC general body meeting approved the prabhag reshuffle, which already triggered political controversy on Sunday. Mahakalkar alleged that the proposal was pushed through without placing complete administrative details before corporators and claimed the decision appeared to be based on "secret information".The rejig approved in the House is expected to trigger a chain shift of prabhags across four zones. As per the new arithmetic, prabhag 12 will be shifted from Dharampeth to Mangalwari zone, while prabhag 9 from Mangalwari will be transferred to Ashi Nagar zone. In turn, prabhag 6 from Ashi Nagar will be moved to Satranjipura zone. The move will reduce one prabhag in the Dharampeth zone while increasing the number of prabhags in Satranjipura and simultaneously altering the political strength of parties in Mangalwari and Ashi Nagar zones.Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, Mahakalkar said the party already enjoys a comfortable majority in the civic body and does not need to manipulate prabhag allocations. According to him, the shifting of prabhags is clearly aimed at weakening the Congress in Mangalwari and strengthening BJP's position in key zones ahead of the zonal chairperson elections.Joining the dissent, corporator Aslam Khan from prabhag 6 submitted a formal objection specifically targeting the transfer of his prabhag from Ashi Nagar to Satranjipura zone. Khan argued that the ward is geographically and demographically suited to Ashi Nagar and the move would force residents to travel longer distances for administrative work. He also warned that ongoing pipeline work currently handled under Ashi Nagar could face budget and technical complications due to the sudden jurisdictional change.Meanwhile, NMC secretary Ranjana Lade clarified that her office has not yet received the resolution passed in the March 20 meeting. She said the mayor will forward minutes of the meeting to the commissioner's office, which will take a final call on whether to implement the proposal. "We are yet to receive or see the suggestions submitted to the mayor," she said, adding that the office cannot comment further at this stage.Mahakalkar has demanded that the civic administration maintain status quo until the full proposal is officially placed before the general body, warning that the opposition will intensify its protest if the decision is implemented without reconsideration.