Municipal polls may be delayed further by few months
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 31 Aug: The government has yet again extended the term of administrators appointed in various municipal bodies posted in the body for months or till the polls are held whichever happens earlier. In this regard, the government had issued fresh orders yesterday.
It may be recalled that the term of the civil bodies in the state had ended in December, itself but instead of holding the elections, the bodies were handed over to the administrators by the government for 6 months period which ended on 2 June 2024. But at this time the code of conduct was in force in the state due to the Lok Sabha elections. Due to which, citing constitutional obligation, the government had postponed the body elections for the next 3 months. At the same time, after the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly and continuous disaster incidents in the state, it was expected that after the monsoon season is over, the urban local bodies elections would be held in the state before 25 October as had been promised by the court in the High Court. The next date of hearing in the case in the High Court is on 25 October. But once again the Uttarakhand government has postponed the body elections.
In the order issued by the government, the reason given for the delay in the ULB elections is the incompletion of the OBC survey for reservation of the wards. In fact, several technical issues have been holding the municipal polls in the state. Though the main reason cited by the government for extension of the term of administration is the incompletion of the OBC survey, the government itself is not fully prepared with respect of the reservation of the wards for various categories. It may also be pertinent to remind here that the bill for OBC reservations in the municipal bodies tabled in the House during the monsoon session of the state assembly has also been referred to a Standing Committee on demand of the members of the treasury bench itself which included Munna Singh Chauhan, Vinod Chamoli, Preetam Singh Panwar, Banshidhar Bhagat etc. Without the OBC bill, the delimitation of wards is also not easy to be carried out. The report of the Select Committee will take at least a month. There are many such complexities which are becoming an obstacle in holding the civic elections soon. In such a situation, the government has postponed the civic elections for the time being. However, the Urban Development and State Election Commission have intensified the preparations for the civic elections. Soon after all the technical aspects are worked out, the government is likely to announce the dates of the civic elections.
