Uttarakhand Local Body elections : Clouds of doubt are looming over the dates of local body elections in Uttarakhand. Due to non-determination of OBC reservation, elections do not seem possible till December 25. The government is bringing the ordinance but the approval of Raj Bhawan is awaited.
Delimitation of constituencies and revision of voter lists has been done. According to the SC order, reservation in the bodies has to be determined afresh.
HIGHLIGHTS
1. Given the circumstances, there is no possibility of elections till 25th December.
2. OBC reservation in municipal bodies has not been decided yet
Even though preparations for the Uttarakhand local body elections are in the final stages, given the circumstances. There are no chances of elections being held till December 25. OBC reservation in municipal bodies has not been decided yet and it is being said that it will take some more time.
In this regard, the government is bringing an ordinance with a view to amending the Municipality and Municipal Corporation Act, on which the green signal is awaited from the Raj Bhavan. Amidst this entire scenario, the civic elections may now be shifted to January or February next year.
Number of Local Municipal Bodies, delimitation, Voter List, Reservation
At present the number of active local municipal bodies in the state is 105, out of which elections are not held in Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri. In view of the elections in the remaining 102 bodies, the work of delimitation, determination of constituencies and revision of voter lists has been done.
According to the order of the Supreme Court, reservation for OBC (Other Backward Class) in the bodies has to be determined afresh. The single dedicated commission formed in this regard has also submitted its report to the government.
In connection with determining OBC reservation, the government had earlier amended the Municipal Act through an ordinance. When this ordinance was placed in the assembly session as a bill, the Municipal Corporation Act could not be passed.
Then this matter was handed over to the Select Committee of the Assembly. Along with continuing the study on this subject. The Select Committee recommended that civic elections should be conducted on the basis of the 2011 census. After some time, the government again sent the amendment ordinance in the Municipal Act to Raj Bhavan in view of determining OBC reservation.
Reservation determination is sure to take time
Not only this, meanwhile due to the code of conduct for the by-election of Kedarnath Assembly seat, the exercise of civic elections got stuck. According to sources, the ordinance is awaiting approval from Raj Bhavan. After this, the reservation rules also have to be amended.
Sources said that even if the ordinance and rules are approved by the end of this month. Then it will take time to determine the reservation. After the determination of OBC reservation. It will take at least a week to receive objections and claims and then to dispose of them.
Then the same process will happen regarding reservation of posts. In such a situation, the notification for civic elections is likely to be issued around December 15. Although, earlier the government had made it clear in the ongoing case in the High Court that the civic elections would be conducted by December 25, but in the present circumstances this does not seem possible.
Big decision of the government, only the outgoing district head will become the administrator
Since according to Article 243E of the Constitution of India. The tenure of the Panchayat is fixed for a maximum period of five years from the date of the first meeting.
General elections of Gram Panchayat / Area Panchayats / District Panchayats were held in all the districts of Uttarakhand state (except Haridwar district) in the month of November, 2019. In this regard, the government has taken a big decision to let the outgoing District President remain the administrator.
