The final Kolkata Municipal Corporation reservation list has designated 69 of the 209 wards for women, including four seats reserved specifically for women from Scheduled Caste communities, according to a notification issued after the objection and correction process was completed.
The notification, issued on Wednesday under Rule 3 of the West Bengal Municipal Elections (Reservation of Seats) Rules, 1994, reserves 12 wards for Scheduled Caste candidates. Four of these—wards 25, 75, 154 and 197—are reserved for Scheduled Caste women. No ward has been reserved for candidates from Scheduled Tribes.
The Scheduled Caste-reserved wards are 25, 31, 52, 75, 125, 144, 154, 158, 192, 197, 200 and 201. The order was issued by Abhishek Kumar Tiwari, the District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas, in connection with the forthcoming Kolkata civic election.
The final list follows the publication of a draft reservation schedule by the State Election Commission. The draft process allowed objections and requests for corrections before the final notification was issued. With the final schedule now public, the eligibility category for each ward has been formally defined for the election process.
The 65 general women-reserved wards listed in the notification are 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 26, 29, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51, 55, 58, 61, 64, 67, 70, 73, 77, 80, 83, 86, 89, 92, 95, 98, 101, 104, 110, 113, 116, 119, 122, 126, 129, 132, 135, 138, 141, 145, 148, 151, 155, 159, 162, 165, 168, 171, 174, 177, 180, 183, 186, 189, 193, 196, 202, 205 and 208. Together with the four Scheduled Caste women-reserved wards, these bring the total number of women-reserved seats to 69.
The notification changes the immediate electoral calculations for potential candidates and political parties. Candidates who have been working in particular wards may no longer be eligible to contest from those seats if the reservation category has changed. Parties will now have to match their candidate selection with the notified status of each ward, including the separate eligibility requirements for Scheduled Caste women-reserved seats.
The final reservation schedule also provides the administrative basis for the next stage of election preparation. Local party units and prospective candidates can begin reviewing the ward-wise categories without relying on the earlier draft list. The notification therefore affects not only candidate selection but also the organisation of campaign teams and local electoral planning.
According to information cited in the report, the Kolkata and Howrah municipal elections could be held on November 28, with counting possibly scheduled for December 2. The State Election Commission has not been reported as having issued the final election schedule in the material supplied. The notification establishes the ward reservation framework, while the formal polling timetable remains the next key step in the election process.
