Why four-member panels in civic polls didn’t see diverse representation of parties ?

Under the multi member ward system a single ward elects three or four corporators instead of one. A municipal corporation is made up of several such wards.

The State Election Commission introduced the system to align representation with population size in large urban centres. Each voter in a ward is required to cast multiple votes corresponding to each seat in the panel. Election authorities say the format is intended to provide broader representation in densely populated areas, reduce the number of wards while retaining proportional representation and encourage cooperation among corporators from different parties for coordinated ward development.

However this intended diversity was observed in only one ward Ward No 22 in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation where all four elected members belonged to different political parties namely BJP Shiv Sena UBT Sena and MNS. In total 820 corporators were elected from 208 panels across the eight municipal corporations that followed the panel system.

Experts attribute the dominance of same party panels to multiple factors ranging from the system favouring larger and ruling parties to voter behaviour shaped by past experience and familiarity with party symbols.

According to data on winning candidates in the Thane Municipal Corporation 21 of the 33 wards elected panels from the same party. In Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation 19 of 28 wards followed the same pattern. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation saw 18 of 24 wards elect same party panels while in Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation 25 of 29 wards voted similarly.

In Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation 12 of 31 panels comprised members from the same political party. In Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation 19 of 23 panels did so while Panvel and Ulhasnagar each recorded 8 of 20 and 10 of 20 panels respectively with members from a single party.

Overall across the eight municipal corporations 132 of the 208 panels or 63.46 per cent elected candidates from the same party.

Political analyst Surendra Jondhale said voter familiarity plays a major role. “In most cases voters end up polling for all candidates of a major party especially the ruling party as in several cases they hardly know candidates of other smaller parties and independents from their prabhag ward” he said.

Vivek Ghotale of the Unique Foundation who has conducted a study on the multi ward system said smaller parties and independents are disadvantaged. “Based on my research the smaller parties and independent candidates suffer in such a system since the prabhag is much larger four times the capacity of one corporation ward and these people cannot reach out to all the voters in their prabhags nor do they have the resources to do so” he said.

“Hence if you see national parties especially the ruling parties stand to benefit as they have larger resources and also their symbols are known to people” Ghotale added.

Dr Sanjay Patil academician and researcher in urban politics said voter experience also influences outcomes. “For example Thane Municipal Corporation TMC had a panel system in 2017 as well and it is possible that people felt wards that had the same party panel were more effective” he said.

He added “Also since there are four candidates to vote people at times don’t know all the candidates. They may like one candidate and vote for the others on his party panel. What this does is that even if there is one strong candidate thanks to him other weaker candidates may also get polled in.”

Another expert who is a government employee and is pursuing a PhD on the subject said the system dilutes individual voter impact. “Since larger areas are involved in prabhags it becomes difficult for a candidate from the minority community or a particular caste to be voted in. Since one member wards are smaller the chances of a particular community’s presence in the area could mean they can impact who is selected. This advantage is neutralized across a larger area where the dominant population ensures their candidates are selected” the expert said.

Jondhale added “Political parties in the past and present created multi member wards in such a way that these become more useful and complementary for the ruling party. As against single ward corporator multi member panel is more conducive for them.”