By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 23 Dec: The Urban Development Directorate today released the final reservation list for the upcoming civic elections in the state, marking significant changes in the allocation of key mayoral seats. It may be recalled that the provisional reservation list issued by the directorate had attracted severe criticism from the prospective candidates as well as political parties.
Taking cognisance of the objections, some key changes have been incorporated in the final reservation list issued today. In a notable shift, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation mayoral seat, previously unreserved, has been reserved for women. The Almora Municipal Corporation mayoral seat, earlier designated for women, has now been allocated to OBC candidates. Similarly, the Haldwani Municipal Corporation mayoral seat, formerly reserved for OBC candidates, has been unreserved now.
The provisional reservation list was issued on 14 December, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to raise objections. Based on the feedback received, the government has reviewed and modified the reservations for three crucial mayoral seats before finalising the list. One interesting thing is that the Dehradun Mayoral seat remains unreserved for the fourth successive time. In the first ever Municipal Corporation election held in 2003, Dehradun seat had been reserved for women. In 2003, Dehradun was the sole Municipal Corporation in Uttarakhand and the Mayoral election was then won by Congress candidate Manorama Sharma who had defeated Vinod Uniyal of BJP. The Dehradun’s mayoral seat was unreserved in 2008 and has since remained unreserved. Since 2008, Dehradun Municipal Corporation has been continuously remained under BJP with Vinod Chamoli winning twice, while the last mayoral election was won by Sunil Uniyal Gama, also of the BJP.
The updated reservation list sets the stage for the civic polls, with these changes likely to impact the political dynamics across the affected regions.
