Jamshedpur: Municipal body elections are set to take place in the Jugsalai Municipal Council after a long gap of 44 years. A total of 44,239 voters will determine the destiny of the contesting candidates. For the 22 wards within the Jugsalai Municipal Council area, 41 polling stations have been established.
Reservation Details: Out of the total seats, 11 have been declared reserved.
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EBC-1 (Extremely Backward Class): Reserved for Ward Nos. 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11.
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BC-2 (Backward Class): Reserved for Ward Nos. 13, 14, and 18.
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Unreserved: Ward Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 22.
Women’s Reservation: A total of 9 seats are reserved for women.
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Reserved Wards: Ward Nos. 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, 19, 20, 21, and 22.
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Specifically, only women from EBC-1 can contest in Wards 6 and 10, while Ward 13 is reserved for women from BC-2. Wards 15, 19, 20, 21, and 22 are open for women from the general category.
Only Two Elections Held So Far; Murlidhar Kedia was the First President
The municipal elections are returning to Jugsalai after 44 years. Before becoming a Municipal Council (Nagar Parishad), it was a Municipality (Nagar Palika), and prior to that, a Notified Area Committee.
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The Notified Area Committee was formed in 1924 (pre-independence).
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It gained Municipality status in 1976, and the first elections were held in December 1977.
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In January 1978, the 14 elected ward members chose Murlidhar Kedia as the first President of Jugsalai.
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To date, municipal elections in Jugsalai have only been held twice: in 1977 and 1983.
Murlidhar Kedia Contested the First Election with Just ₹2,000
Murlidhar Kedia, the first President of Jugsalai, reminisces about that era of simplicity. He shares that he contested the ward councillor election with an expenditure of only ₹2,000, which was spent entirely on printing handbills.
There were no posters, massive hoardings, or flashy advertisements; direct public contact was the only electoral weapon. Kedia explains that during that time, the President was elected indirectly—the elected ward members would choose the President from among themselves. He notes that Jugsalai had around 15,000 to 17,000 voters back then, with approximately 1,000 voters per ward. Candidates and councillors knew almost every family in their locality personally.
