Patna Deputy CM Vows to Protect Elected Municipal Representatives
In a significant development for local governance in Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha made a crucial announcement on Tuesday regarding the status of municipal bodies across the state. The urban development and housing portfolio holder firmly stated that no municipal body would face premature dissolution simply because its delimitation process had been completed while elected representatives still had time remaining in their tenure.
Addressing Delegation Concerns Over Danapur Expansion
The Deputy CM's assurance came during a meeting with a delegation of councillors led by Agriculture Minister Ram Kripal Yadav. The delegation had approached Sinha to express their apprehensions about the recent expansion of the Danapur Nizamat nagar parishad area, which incorporated several villages into municipal limits.
The expanded municipal area now includes villages such as:
- Faridpur
- Mainpura
- Jamsaut
- Dhibra
- Kothwan
- Mustafapur
- Babakkarpur
- Ashopur
- Nasirpur
This expansion, notified by the department in October following the delimitation process, raised concerns about the fate of the current elected body whose term still has approximately one year remaining.
Constitutional Protection for Elected Representatives
Deputy CM Sinha emphasized that dissolving a duly elected municipal body before the completion of its term would constitute grave injustice against the democratic process and the representatives chosen by the people. He acknowledged the delegation's valid argument that conducting fresh elections while the current members still had substantial time in office would be inappropriate and disruptive to ongoing development work.
"The elected representatives have been chosen by the people to serve a full term," Sinha remarked during the meeting. "Any premature dissolution would undermine the democratic mandate and create unnecessary instability in local governance."
Assurance of Due Process and Continuity
Responding positively to the delegation's concerns, the Deputy CM provided concrete assurances:
- He committed to making every effort to ensure no injustice is done to any elected municipal representative
- He vowed to prevent premature dissolution of municipal bodies whose tenure is still ongoing
- He acknowledged that while the Bihar State Election Commission would need to conduct fresh ward delimitation and formation processes for expanded areas, this should not automatically trigger dissolution of existing bodies
Background: Municipal Expansion Framework
The current situation stems from a systematic process initiated last year when the urban development department wrote to all district magistrates requesting proposals for:
- Formation of new municipal bodies
- Upgradation of existing municipal structures
- Area expansion of current municipal jurisdictions
This initiative was based on provisions under Sections 3 and 7 of the Bihar Municipal Act (as amended), 2007, which consider multiple factors including:
- Total population statistics
- Workforce composition, including agricultural workers
- Geographical area in square kilometers
- Population density patterns
- Boundary specifications
- Mauza details
- Police station jurisdictional information
- Properly formatted maps
Current Status of Municipal Proposals
Under this framework, proposals for eight municipal bodies have already been processed according to established rules, leading to their official notification and forwarding to the Bihar State Election Commission. However, the process faces certain constraints moving forward.
Currently, proposals for 29 additional municipal bodies are under active consideration by the department. Significantly, no action can be taken on these proposals until March 31, 2027, due to directives from the Census Commission regarding population data constraints and the need for updated demographic information.
The Deputy CM's assurance thus provides much-needed stability for existing municipal bodies while the state navigates the complex process of urban expansion and reorganization within constitutional and demographic parameters.
