The much-awaited three-tier panchayat elections in Uttarakhand were announced on Saturday. Elections will be held in two phases next month in the remaining 12 districts of the state except Haridwar. The election process will begin with nominations from June 25. Voting will be held in 49 development blocks in the first phase on July 10 and in 40 development blocks in the second phase on July 15. Counting of votes will begin from July 19. With the release of the notification of panchayat elections by the State Election Commission, the model code of conduct has come into effect in the rest of the state except urban areas and Haridwar district. In the three-tier panchayats, 47.77 lakh voters will elect representatives for a total of 66418 posts of village head as well as village, area and district panchayat members. In the remaining districts except Haridwar, administrators were appointed after the term of three-tier panchayats ended last year. Even during the six-month administrator’s term, the situation for elections could not be created. Due to this, the panchayats remained leaderless for about two weeks. In view of this constitutional crisis in the Panchayats, the officials were given the responsibility to conduct the work in the Panchayats at the beginning of this month. Along with this, reservation for posts and places in the Panchayats was decided.
The remaining processes were completed earlier in view of the elections. On June 19, the list of reservation in the Panchayats was sent to the State Election Commission. In such a situation, it was expected that the notification of the election would be issued soon. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the proposed program was sent to the Commission by the government in view of the Panchayat elections next month. The Commission also did not delay in issuing the notification of Panchayat elections after consultation with the government. Talking to journalists at the headquarters of the State Election Commission, State Election Commissioner Sushil Kumar announced the dates of the Panchayat elections. He said that after the notification of the Commission, now the concerned District Election Officer will issue a notification in their respective districts on June 23, giving details of the territorial constituencies of the Gram Pradhan and village, area and district Panchayat members along with posts and reservation. He said that in view of the rainy season, the District Magistrates have also been asked to make a contingency plan. –
