The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) passed two bills paving the way for delimitation of wards of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation.

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With the passage of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Howrah Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2026 during special session of the Assembly the number of wards in Kolkata municipal area will increase from 144 to 209 and wards in the Howrah municipal area will increase from 50 to 68.

The population of Kolkata Municipal Corporation is estimated to be 6.7 million and Howrah Municipal Corporation is 1.6 million.

Speaking on the amendment bills, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the legislation passed by the Assembly only dealt with increasing the number of wards and that the actual delimitation would be undertaken subsequently by the State Election Commission (SEC). Mr. Adhikari also added that people will have an opportunity to air their grievances and there will be at least two all party meetings.

Former Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim said that he was not opposing the reorganisation and delimitation of the wards in principle but it should be made clear on what policy or criteria the entire process is being carried out. Mr. Hakim, who is a rebel Trinamool Congress MLA who has aligned with Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, has been one of the most prominent Muslim leaders of the State. “It should also be made clear whether the boundaries of the new wards are being altered by targeting any particular community,” Mr. Hakim said, raising questions on the political move behind the delimitation exercise and increasing the wards in Kolkata by 65 wards. Similar concerns were raised by another Kolkata MLA Javed Khan, who has also joined the rebel camp of Trinamool Congress led by Mr. Banerjee.

Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Agnimitra Paul, who introduced both the bills, defended the government’s decision to increase the number of wards, saying the move to increase the number of wards in the municipalities was aimed at improving civic services. “The previous governments did not do work for improving the civic facilities,” Ms. Paul told media persons. MLAs of the BJP who participated in the discussion raised questions about uneven distribution of voters in certain wards of Kolkata and Howrah.

The tabling and passage of the bills comes at a time when most of the civic bodies have turned defunct in the State. After the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in West Bengal in May 2026, there has been mass resignation of councillors across the civic bodies. All the councillors of Kolkata Municipal Corporation have resigned, and the largest civic body of the State is being administered by a civil servant. The West Bengal government wants to complete the delimitation exercise before civic polls are held by the end of the year.