<p>Effective citizen participation in urban local governance is essential for ensuring inclusivity in planning, decision-making and implementation to enhance citizens’ well-being and development. Especially in growing suburban areas, citizen participation is crucial as these urban areas lack sufficient infrastructure and basic amenities. Moreover, the proliferating population in these areas inevitably altered the society and induced heterogeneity that challenges inclusive participation. Besides, the decentralised mandates, such as ward committees, are also burdened with several hurdles. Against this backdrop, this paper highlights the condition of citizen participation in Dankuni, a suburban city of Kolkata. The findings reveal that, like many other cities, in Dankuni, the ward committees are not effectively performing, and there are several issues, such as unawareness of citizens, ineffective dissemination of information, non-participation of citizens, and&#xa0;informal practices of citizens, among others. However, the paper delved deeper into revealing the distinctive approaches of migrant and native populations, with the former preferring informal methods and the latter depending on formal participation as a group or community. Approaches like these amplify the asymmetry in participation and service delivery, demanding specific attention. Therefore, the paper emphasises identifying these distinct ways of citizen participation as found peculiar in suburban cities. Through considering them, there is a need to tailor relevant policies to link these various methods of participation to promote inclusive representation.</p>