ગુજરાતી
English
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, 2 January 2025
A cabinet meeting of the Gujarat government was held on 1 January 2025. In which the state government has made Tharad a new district. Which will now be known as Vav-Thrad district. This district is the district of Adani brothers.
After the municipal elections, elections were to be held for Banaskantha District Panchayat and Kheda District Panchayat and 17 talukas, 4700 gram panchayats.
Banaskantha will be divided and 8 out of 14 talukas will be merged into Vav-Thrad. The headquarters of the new district will be Tharad. Dividing Banaskantha district into two districts will change the political mathematics. This is the second district after Kutch.
Vav-Thrad district will have 8 talukas named Vav, Bhabhar, Tharad, Dhanera, Suigam, Lakhani, Deodar and Kankrej.
Tharad has been jailed. Bona, Tharad,
Thakor’s seat against Chaudhary will be Kankrej. Not party or independent.
The remaining 6 taluks in the 4486 sq km Banaskantha district will be Palanpur, Danta, Amirgadh, Dantiwada, Vadgam and Disa. Palanpur and Disa are two municipalities. There will be 600 villages in one district.
Vav-Tharad district will have 6257 sq km and Banaskantha district will be reduced by 35 to 85 km.
2019
When Chief Minister Rupani visited Tharad on 26 January 2019, the demand for division of Banaskantha district was raised.
It was demanded to be named as Tirpur district.
The headquarters was demanded to be kept in Tharad or Bhabhar.
In August 2015, the state government had made a feasibility report to make Tharad a separate district.
The Chief Minister’s Office sought the opinion of the Deputy Collector on creating a separate district. The Deputy Collector of Tharad said that geographically it is suitable to create Tharad district.
However, there were demands and disputes to divide Banaskantha district and keep the headquarters in Bhabhar taluka or Deodar taluka or Tharad.
Before the 2012 assembly elections, many new talukas and districts were created due to changes in the delimitation of the state.
A written request was made by the Sarpanch Mandal of Tharad taluk.
Palanpur is 90 km from Tharad. If Tharad becomes the district headquarters, then Vav is 12 km, Dhanera is 40 km, Suigam, Bhabhar is 35 km and Deodar is 40 km as well as Lakhani is 26 km. In such a situation, people have to travel a distance of 90 km for government work. They will not have to travel much farther.
This taluk can be included in Tharad district
Tharad, Vav, Suigam, Bhabhar, Devdar, Lakhani
Rah and Tadav villages were to be declared as new taluka and declared as taluka headquarters.
Tharad is adjacent to the international border of Pakistan and the interstate border of Rajasthan and the Great Desert of Kutch. National Highway 15 connecting Kandlabandar to Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and other states of North India passes through Tharad.
Earlier, a rally was taken out demanding a separate district. Congress and Aam Aadmi Party supported the demand of the people.
On 22 March 2016, Tharad Taluka Panchayat members demanded to make Tharad the next district in a general meeting. But the ruling party BJP rejected it.
Meaning of Tharad
The area known as Thirkar, Tharapad, Khirapad, Thirad Thirpur Thirad is now known as Tharad. In ancient times, it was a prosperous city. There was a strong fort all around. There was a 30 feet deep moat around the fort.
Thirapaal Dharu founded Thirad in Samvat 101. Tharad is the seventh most populous city. This city is 2 thousand years old.
Gautam Adani is a native of this place.
Kumardevi, mother of Chetpal and Tejpal, who built a house in Delwara, was born here.
Thirad was situated on a vast sea coast.
There was a demand to divide Kutch and create a new district called East Kutch.
Population 21 lakh and area 45,674 sq km. Kutch is spread in the region.
Make Viramgam a separate district
The demand to make Viramgam taluka of Ahmedabad a separate district has also been continuously raised. Just like Botad was separated from Ahmedabad and merged into Saurashtra, similarly, there has been a long-standing demand to include Viramgam in Saurashtra by making it a separate district.
It was decided to make nine municipalities a metropolitan municipality.
Mehsana, Gandhidham, Vapi, Navsari, Anand, Surendranagar, Nadiad, Morbi and Porbandar have been given the status of municipality.
Actually, there has been a demand to make Bharuch a metropolitan municipality for a long time. But this could not happen because BJP’s Mansukh Vasava was fighting against the government there.
There are now 17 municipal corporations in Gujarat
At present, there are 8 municipalities in the state. These include Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Gandhinagar municipalities.
By giving permission to 9 new municipal corporations, the number of municipal corporations has now increased to 17.
Elections may be postponed
Elections were to be held for 78 municipalities in the state. While making the new Mahanagar Palika a Mahanagar Palika, now 9 municipalities will be merged into it. 15 municipalities will be merged with the big city.
In view of this, elections of 60 municipalities are also likely to be held. The government intends to issue a gazette notification by approving the new proposals in the state cabinet meeting.
Elections of 78 municipalities were to be held in December. The Election Commission was informed for that.
At present, the administrative session is going on in 78 municipalities of Gujarat. The election was held on 17 February 2018. There are 32 municipalities in Saurashtra, 16 in North Gujarat, 19 in Central Gujarat and 5 in South Gujarat.
A total of Rs. 1001 crore has been allowed to be allocated.
Why earlier
Thus, new cities were to be built from March 2020. This information was given to the departments. But later Vijay Rupani was ordered from Delhi not to do so. The state’s urban government had started considering expanding the scope of 8 metros of Gujarat. The Urban Development Department will issue a gazette notification. In the 2027 assembly elections, 80 urban seats will increase from about 96 to 100. In 2020, the state’s Urban Development Department had written a letter to 8 municipalities and instructed them to send proposals for the merger of municipalities and gram panchayats soon. Then it was asked to prepare a list soon as to how many gram panchayats or municipalities can be merged into the metropolis. Proposals were invited to connect villages and towns as well as the outskirts of the city. There is a possibility of major changes in the boundaries of areas like Guda, Suda, Thatte, Vuda, Auda, Juda, Jada. Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar
In Ahmedabad, 30 new areas were finally merged into the municipal corporation in 2007. Areas like Pethapur, Kudasan, Raisan, Sargasan outside Gandhinagar will be brought under the purview of the municipal corporation.
In Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Bhavnagar, outer areas have been directed to prepare proposals for integration with municipal corporations.
General elections for all municipal corporations, municipalities, district and taluka panchayats in the state except Junagadh are scheduled to be held next year. The number of wards may also increase in the metropolitan elections.
Other 8 metropolitan municipalities will be formed
There are 8 municipal corporations and there has been a demand to make other 8 municipal corporations into metropolitan corporations. These include Bharuch, Nadiad, Anand, Amreli, Mehsana, Porbandar, Surendranagar, Valsad, Navsari. By doing this, the urban area will increase from the current 43 percent to 50 percent in 2022. So BJP can create 100 assembly seats by including the surrounding villages and 85 of them can be won easily. Vijay Rupani can form the government once again in 2022. In 2017, farmers and people of rural areas did not vote for the BJP government, so they have prepared a game plan to form the government again in the assembly.
1 thousand villages will be merged in the new metropolis
To increase the dominance of 8 urban voters and reduce the weight of rural voters by including the surrounding villages in the new municipality, plans have been made to merge another thousand villages into the city and turn them into big cities.
If the assembly seats are counted, Congress will lose again
At present, there are a total of 53 seats in 8 metros and 27 seats in city and village combined. Congress has only 7 MLAs against BJP on 53 urban seats. Thus, there can be 100 seats in the existing metro and new metro combined. BJP has become the conservative party of urban voters. Congress or Aam Aadmi Party can barely get 20-25 seats out of 100, not more than that. BJP is also dominating the municipal corporation seats.
In the 2012 assembly elections, BJP won 40 out of 45 assembly seats in eight municipalities, while Congress got only five seats.
BJP is currently ruling the eight municipal corporations of the state.
In the eight municipal corporations of the state, BJP currently has 447 seats, Congress has 207 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party has 2 seats and other parties have 12 seats, while independent MLAs have been elected on 2 seats. Congress’ vote share is 8.73 per cent less than BJP’s 50.27 per cent vote share. This difference of 9 per cent vote share is politically significant for both the major parties.
https://x.com/irshikeshpatel/status/1874426051092512863
New metros
1 – Navsari
The Navsari Municipality along with Dantej, Dharagiri, Eru and Hansapur Gram Panchayats have been merged into the Navsari Metropolitan Municipality.
2 – Gandhidham
The Gandhidham Municipality will become a Mahanagarpalika by merging Kidana, Galpadar, Antarjal, Shinay, Meghpar-Borichi and Meghpar-Kumbardi Gram Panchayats.
3 – Morbi
The Morbi Municipality along with Shaktisanala, Ravapara, Lilapar, Amreli, Nani Vavadi, Bhadiad (Jawahar), Trejpar (Malia Vanalia), Mahendranagar (Indiranagar) and Madhapar/Vajpar OG Gram Panchayats have been merged into the city.
4 – Vapi
The Vapi Municipality comprises of Vapi Municipality along with Balitha, Salvav, Chiri, Charwada, Chanod, Karavad, Namdha, Chandor, Morai, Watar, Kunta gram panchayats.
5 – Khushi
The Anand, Vallabhvidyanagar and Karamsad municipalities along with Mogri, Jitodiya, Gamdi and Lambhvel gram panchayats have been merged into the city.
6 – Mehsana
The Mehsana Municipality along with Fatepura, Ramosana, Ramosana N.A. Mehsana Mahanagarpalika was formed by merging Vistar, Dediasan, Palvasna, Heduva Rajgar, Heduva Hanumant, Taleti and Lakhwad gram panchayats apart from Palodar, Panchot, Gilosan, Nugar, Sakhpurda and Lakhwad gram panchayats.
7 – Surendranagar
Surendranagar, Dudhrej, Wadwan Municipality and Khamisana, Kherali, Malod, Mulchand and Chamraj Gram Panchayats have been merged into Surendranagar Municipality.
8 – Porbandar
Porbandar, Chhaya Municipality and Vanana (Virpur), Digvijaygad, Ratanpar and Jhawar Gram Panchayats have been merged to form Porbandar Municipality.
9 – Nadiad
Nadiad Municipality will be merged with Yoginagar, Pipalag, Dumral, Fatepura, Kamala, Manjipura, Dabhan, Bilodara, Uttarsanda and Tundel Gram Panchayats to form Nadiad Municipality.
What happened when
In 1950, Ahmedabad and Vadodara were declared as Mahanagar Palikas in the state
It was declared as a metropolis. Bhavnagar in 1962, Surat in 1966, Rajkot in 1973, Jamnagar in 1981, Junagadh in 2002 and Gandhinagar in 2010 were declared metropolises.
2025
Districts are being divided in Gujarat after 12 years. New municipalities have been formed after 14 years. In the new metropolises, the elected branch of the municipality, the Gram Panchayats, have been dissolved.
22 metropolises were to be formed
In April 2024, the government was secretly planning to declare metropolises. Due to which
If 8 new municipal corporations are added after the previous announcement, then a total of 22 municipal corporations were to be formed in Gujarat with 14 municipal corporations.
There were to be 5 metropolises
On 29 June 2023, it was decided in the Pradhan Mandal to form 5 municipalities Navsari, Gandhidham, Surendranagar, Vapi and Morbi.
Suddenly two increased
In the budget of March 2024, the Gujarat government had asked to declare 7 municipalities. In which Mehsana, Gandhidham, Anand, Morbi, Navsari, Vapi and Surendranagar-Dudrej municipalities were announced to be made Mahanagar Palika. But, something happened in 10 months that on January 1, 2025, suddenly 2 cities were declared municipal corporations instead of 7. This includes Porbandar and Nadiad.
Injustice of years
For years there were 6 municipalities. Later Junagadh Municipality was formed. People filed a case in the Gujarat High Court and by its order, got Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation from the Narendra Modi government. There are about 100 towns in Gujarat which can become municipal corporations.
Towns
There are many towns in the state which need to be made metropolitan i.e. they need to be made Mahanagar Palika.
Why not 11 cities and metropolises?
Patan, Palanpur, Himmatnagar, Dahod, Godhra, Khambhat, Chhotaudepur, Bharuch, Valsad, Bhuj, Amreli cities are eligible to become municipal corporations. However not made. The only reason for this is that it cannot help BJP politically.
Lower level officials meet the municipalities. Due to which the city is not able to develop so much. If it is made a metropolitan municipality then it can improve the income of that city.
When metropolitan
Generally the criteria is that if the population of a city is more than one lakh then it should be made a metropolitan municipality. Out of the 156 municipalities in Gujarat, many demands have been raised that cities with a population of more than 1 lakh should also be declared metropolitan.
When city
A city with a population of more than 10,000 should be given a municipality but this is not even considered for making municipalities in the state. It is estimated that there are 102 towns with a population of more than 10 thousand.
Villages
There are many villages that can be made Nagar Palika. There are many towns that can become Mahanagar Palika. The government should conduct a survey to decide which village should be made Nagar Palika and which town should be made Mahanagar Palika.
What is the process?
The final authority to create new districts or change boundaries lies with the Gujarat government. The approval of the Government of India is not required.
The Home Ministry of the state government sends the proposal to other departments. After getting the approval of the departments, the No Objection Certificate is issued.
Injustice with 13 cities
Generally, a city with a population of more than 1 lakh is declared a Mahanagar Palika. There are 13 cities in Gujarat with a population of up to 1.5 lakh. However, they have not been given the status of Mahanagar Palika.
Porbandar has a population of 2,79,245. Bharuch and Patan have a population more than that but they have not been declared Mahanagar Palika. The government’s discriminatory policy is visible here. If everyone gets equal justice, then 17 Mahanagar Palikas should be declared and if 13 more Mahanagar Palikas are declared, then 30 Mahanagar Palikas should be made.
Bharuch- 2,90,000
Patan- 2,83,000
Bhuj- 2,44,000
Nakhada- 2,41,000
Valsad- 2,21,000
Godhra- 2,11,000
Palanpur- 1,84,000
Himmatnagar- 1,81,000
Kalol- 1,74,000
Botad- 1,69,000
Amreli- 1,53,000
Gondal- 1,45,000
Jetpur- 1,53,000
60 percent of Gujarat’s population lives in cities and towns. Which are talukas, district headquarters, municipalities or cities.
List of 207 cities or towns in Gujarat
Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Palanpur, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Surat City, Ankleshwar, Anjar, Amreli,
Amalsad, Amirgadh, Alang, Anand, Adityana, Adipur, Amod, Ahwa, Unjha, Uchchal, Una, Upleta, Umarpada, Umareth, Okha, Olpad, Kandla Bunder, Kathlal, Kadana, Kadi, Kapadwanj, Karjan, Kalol, Kalyanpur, Kamrej, Kalavad, Kalol, Kutiyana, Keshod, Kodinar, Khambhalia, Khambha, Khedbrahma, Kheda, Kheralu, Gadhada, Gandevi, Garbada, Gandhidham, Gandhinagar, Gariadhar, Gondal, Godhra, Ghoghamba, Chaklasi, Chansma, Chikhli, Chuda, Chotila, Chorwad, Chhaya, Chhotaudepur, Jambusar, Jalalpore, Jawaharnagar, Jasdan, Jambhoda, Jafarabad, Jam Rawal, Jamkandorrana, Jamjodhpur, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Jetpur, Jodia, Jhalod, Tasra, Dabhoi, Disa, Deadiapada, Talod, Talaj, Tarapur, Talala, Tilakwada, Tilakwada, Dasda, Danad, Danoda, . , Bahuchaji, Babra, Baid, in Surat, Mangaf, Matar, Malpur, Malia, Hatina, Mundra, Muli, Mendara, Meghraj, Modasa, Morbi, Morwa, Rajkot Rajpipla, Rajula, Ranpur, Ranavav, Radhanpur, Rapar, Lakhtar, Lathi, Lalpur, Limbdi, Limkheda, Lunavada, Lodhika, Vanthali, WaghE, Vadgam, Vadnagar, Wadali, Vadodara, Wadwan, Valsad, Vallabhipur, Wankaner, Vansada, Wagra, Waghodiya, Vapi, Valia, Valod, Vav, Vijayanagar, Vijayapur, Virpur-Mahisagar, Viramgam, Isanagar, Veraval, Vyara, Shankeshwar, Shehra, Shinor, Sankheda and Santrampur. (Gujarati to Google translation, see Gujarati on controversy)
