By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 14 Jul: Even as some confusion remains on how to prevent those registered in more than one electoral roll from contesting or casting votes, Uttarakhand Election Commission has started distributing election symbols for the panchayat polls.
After the High Court made it clear that it had not stayed the panchayat elections but only the 6 July order of the State Election Commission, the Commission has decided to go ahead with the election process. The State Election Commission has resumed the process of election symbol allotment for the first phase of the three-tier panchayat elections following a clarification issued by the Nainital High Court this afternoon. As per the revised election notification, symbols were to be allotted on 14 July. However, owing to an ongoing legal matter before the Nainital High Court, the Commission had temporarily halted the process until 2 p.m. the same day.
Subsequent to the High Court hearing held on 14 July, the State Election Commission resolved to continue with the election schedule as laid out in the notification. Accordingly, allotment of election symbols commenced from 2 p.m. and continued until 6 p.m., today, with the remaining symbols to be allotted from 8 a.m. onwards on 15 July until the process is completed.
It may be reminded here that during the proceedings at the Nainital High Court today, it was clarified that there had been no stay imposed on the panchayat election process. The Court specified that only the Commission’s directive issued on 6 July had been put on hold, not the election itself. Consequently, the Commission was deemed free to carry forward the electoral steps as outlined in its previously released notification.
Rahul Kumar, Secretary of the State Election Commission today shared with the media that that the Commission had submitted a letter to the High Court yesterday in response to the Court’s judgement dated 11 July. The letter had expressed concerns that the said judgement was obstructing the election procedure and requested a modification to facilitate the continuation of the process. Following the submission, a hearing was conducted on 14 July, after which the Court clarified that its earlier judgement did not constitute a stay on the election process.
However, it is still not clear how the Election Commission will ensure that the voters registered both as rural as well as urban voters will be prevented from casting votes or contesting the panchayat elections. The failure to ensure this, under the given circumstances may be presumed to be a violation of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016.
