BY Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
DEHRADUN, 28 Jun: A fresh schedule for the Panchayat elections has been announced in Uttarakhand following the go-ahead from the Uttarakhand High Court which has now cleared the legal decks for the polls. The elections will be held in two phases with polling to be held for the first phase on July 24 and for the second phase on July 28. Acting swiftly after the court’s decision, the state government issued a notification for the three-tier Panchayat elections in 12 districts, excluding Haridwar. The State Election Commission (SEC) has subsequently released the revised schedule. The District Election Officers will issue their respective notifications on June 30. Counting of votes for both phases will be held on July 31and the results are expected to be released on the same day. It may also be pertinent to recall here that the Panchayat elections are to be held in 12 out of the total of 13 districts in the state barring Haridwar district.
Scheduled earlier, the Panchayat elections had to be deferred after an order from the Nainital High Court, which had ordered a stay on the poll schedule declared earlier on technical grounds. With legal obstacles now out of the way, the State Election Commission has issued a fresh notification covering polls in 89 development blocks and 7,499 Gram Panchayats. Polling will be held for a total of 66,418 posts. These posts include 55,587 Gram Panchayat Members, 7,499 Pradhans, 2,974 Kshetra Panchayat Members, and 358 Zila Panchayat Members. A comprehensive polling infrastructure has been laid out with 8,276 polling centres and 10,529 polling stations across the state.
According to the updated electoral rolls, there are a total of 47,77,072 eligible voters in the 12 participating districts, including 24,65,702 males, 23,10,996 females, and 374 categorised as ‘other’. Compared to the 2019 elections, the number of voters has risen by over 10.57 per cent, with an addition of 4,56,793 new voters.
To differentiate among various posts up for the polls, the ballot papers will be colour-coded with white ballot papers to be used for Gram Panchayat Members, green for Pradhans, blue for Kshetra Panchayat Members, and pink for Zila Panchayat Members. The State Election Commission will deploy more than 95,000 personnel to ensure a smooth conduct of polls, including 11,849 presiding officers, 47,910 polling officers, and 35,700 security personnel. The administration is also expected to mobilise 5,620 vehicles and assign 67 observers, including 55 general and 12 reserved.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has claimed that transparency will be ensured through software-enabled randomisation for the deployment of polling and counting personnel. Three-level district teams comprising representatives from the district administration, police, and excise departments will monitor and curb illicit liquor, unaccounted cash, and narcotics. Each district will also have an expenditure in-charge who will send daily seizure reports to the SEC.
The first phase of polling to be held on July 24 will cover 49 blocks of which 23 are in Kumaon division and 26 in Garhwal. The second phase of polling to be held on July 28 will include 40 blocks of which 18 are in Kumaon division and 22 in Garhwal. Among the key districts participating in the phased polls are Almora, Pithoragarh, Nainital, Bageshwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Chamoli, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Dehradun, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi. Haridwar district is not included in the current round of elections as it still has active elected panchayat bodies whose term has not ended.
The nomination process for Phase 1 will take place between July 2-5. Scrutiny is scheduled from July 7-9, and withdrawals will be permitted on July 10and 11. Symbols for Phase 1 will be allotted on July 14, and for Phase 2 on July 18. The entire electoral process will culminate with the vote counting and declaration of results on the last day of July.
