Certain counsellors might not be able to contest from their current wards in the upcoming elections as their seats have been reserved.

In a notice dated January 17, certain wards have been announced as reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) or women candidates.

The draft list was issued by district magistrate Chaitali Chakrabarti, who is the district election officer appointed by the state election commission. The order follows the West Bengal Municipal Elections (Reservation of Seats) Rules, 1994.

Within Salt Lake, Ward 41 (AA, AB, AC, AD, BB, BC, BD blocks) will be reserved for women. The incumbent councillor here is Anindya Chattopadhyay. Ward 32 (Karunamoyee, DL and EE blocks), where Sudhir Saha is the councillor, will also be reserved for woman candidates. Ward 26 (area behind Sector V like Chhainabi, Khasmahal etc), currently overseen by councillor Prabir Sardar, has been designated for women candidates too.

Ward 28 (Mahisbathan) has become an ST seat. The current councillor here is Banibrabata Banerjee.

Mayor Krishna Chakraborty’s seat Ward 29 (AJ, BJ, CJ, DJ, AK, BK, CK, DK, AL, BL, CL blocks and a part of Sarat Abasan), has been reserved for women. Ward 37 (Purbachal) is reserved for SC woman candidates. Minu Das Chakraborty is the current councillor. Ward 35 (Sukantanagar, with councillor Joydeb Naskar) has become an SC seat, as has Ward 38 (part of Duttabad, with Nirmal Dutta as councillor).

This draft list will be taken up for consideration in two weeks in case of objections or suggestions.