Uttarakhand civic polls to be held on Jan 23; results on Jan 25

Dehradun (The Uttam Hindu): The Election Commission on Monday announced the poll dates for Uttarakhand Municipal elections, bringing an end to rounds of speculation and also setting the stage for another face-off between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress. As per the election schedule announced by the poll panel, the whole election exercise will be spread over a month, starting from December 27 to January 23.

The nomination filing process of candidates will be done from December 27 to December 30 while the scrutiny of nomination papers will be done from December 31 to January. Candidates will have the flexibility to withdraw from the contest, for whatsoever reason, till January 2.

People across the municipal corporations, municipal councils and the Nagar panchayats will vote in a single phase election on January 23 while the results will be declared on January 25. According to reports, the hilly state has a total of 92 civic bodies, comprising 8 Municipal Corporations, 42 Municipal councils and 42 Nagar Panchayats. Out of 8 municipal corporations, 5 civic bodies were held by the BJP.

The panel has also effected some crucial changes in the upcoming civil polls, with regard to reservations in civic bodies. Haldwani Mayor post, which was till now reserved for the OBC community, has been made into a general seat, while Almora mayor seat has been reserved for OBC candidates in the upcoming polls.

Meanwhile, the political parties have intensified their preparations for civic polls, preparing the stage for a thrilling contest. Congress is hoping to counter Pushkar Singh Dhami government on slew of local issues while the BJP is high on confidence over its recent show in Kedarnath Assembly by-polls. The local body polls will be completed before the National Games in the state, starting from January 28 to February 1. After the National Games, the Devbhoomi will again gear up for village and block panchayat elections as their term expired in November this year.