Panchkula, Jan. 8 -- The draw of lots for the reserved seats for the upcoming Panchkula municipal corporation (MC) elections was held on Wednesday, in which, a total of seven wards have been reserved for the women candidates. Following the completion of the delimitation (wardbandi) exercise last month and the rejection of objections to the proposed ward boundaries, the draw of lots was held in the presence of ad-hoc committee chairman and Panchkula deputy commissioner (DC) Satpal Sharma. Apart from committee members, former mayor Kulbhushan Goyal and former councillors Gautam Prasad and Rajesh were also present. Ward No. 16 has been declared reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) category, while Ward No. 18 and 19 have been reserved for women from Backward Classes-B (BC-B) and Backward Classes-A (BC-A) category, respectively. Other than these reserve categories, Ward No. 1, 2, 11 and 15 have been kept reserved for women in the general category. Ward No. 7 and 17 has been reserved for the SC category, and both men and women can contest on these seats. This year's ward reservation has seen major changes by giving more weightage to the women belonging to the BC category. In the 2020 MC elections, seven wards were reserved for women. In which, Ward No. 7 and 12 were reserved for SC women, while Ward No. 3, 4, 10, 11 and 19 were reserved for general category women. This time, while the overall women's representation remains at 33%, the number of seats reserved for women in the general category has been reduced to four, with an increase in reservations under the BC categories. In 2020, Ward No. 6 and 16 were reserved for the SC category, while only BC candidates could contest from Ward No. 15 and 20. Former mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said that the MC elections are likely to be held in April, although the official notification is yet to be issued. Earlier, the delimitation exercise was carried out in December 2025 under the Haryana Municipal Corporation Delimitation of Ward Rules, 1994. As per the new delimitation of 20 wards, voter distribution shows that three wards have between 8,699 and 8,913 voters, four wards fall in the 9,097 to 9,592 range, six wards have 10,198 to 10,990 voters, and another six wards have between 11,054 and 11,934 voters. Only Ward No. 17 has more than 12,000 voters, with a total of 12,210 voters. Last month, the district administration rejected objections raised by the Congress, other political groups, few councillors and resident welfare associations (RWAs), who alleged that the delimitation process was arbitrary, rushed and in violation of statutory norms. A joint delegation comprising councillors, RWA representatives and leaders from parties such as the Congress and JJP had met DC Satpal Sharma, alleging that the draft notification violated the Haryana Municipal Corporation Delimitation of Wards Rules, 1994. They claimed the new boundaries ignored principles of geographical compactness and contiguity. Specific objections included the merger of Sector 2 with distant areas like MDC Sector 5, which residents said would make access to councillors difficult, especially for the elderly. Residents of Ramgarh also protested being shifted to a ward located nearly 15 km away, significantly increasing travel distance for civic services. The delegation further pointed out technical errors, including incorrect mapping of Kharak Mangoli and the placement of its polling booths in Ward No. 17, and alleged that changes in reservation status would disadvantage certain villages....