By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 18 Nov: The Uttarakhand State Election Commission has completed all the arrangements for the Panchayat by-elections scheduled to be held on 20 November to fill 321 vacant posts across the three-tier Panchayati Raj system. A total of 2,266 candidates remain in the fray for these seats. At the same time, a staggering 27,221 candidates have already been elected unopposed, reflecting the scale and intensity of grassroots political mobilisation in the state.
It may be noted here that the notification for the by-election was issued on 11 November for 32,985 vacant posts, following which 30,800 nominations were filed. After scrutiny on 15 November, 994 nominations were rejected due to procedural errors and discrepancies. On 16 November, the designated day for withdrawal of candidature, 319 aspirants withdrew their names, paving the way for finalisation of the contesting list. The remaining 2,266 candidates will now vie for 321 seats, comprising 316 Gram Panchayat Member posts with 2,255 candidates, four Gram Pradhan posts with nine candidates, and one Zila Panchayat Member post contested by two candidates.
According to the official sources of the State Election Commission, the polling parties will be dispatched to their respective locations on 19 November. Voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 20 November, and counting of votes will commence at 8 a.m. on 22 November, continuing until the process is completed.
It may be recalled that the by-elections are being conducted in 12 districts, excluding Haridwar, which remains outside the purview of this electoral exercise due to administrative and legal considerations. It may be reminded here that panchayat elections in district Haridwar are held separately.
Almora district has 98 candidates contesting 49 seats, Udham Singh Nagar district has 226 candidates for 109 seats, Champawat district has two candidates for one seat, Pithoragarh district has 10 candidates for five seats, Nainital district has 79 candidates for 40 seats, Uttarkashi district has 16 candidates for eight seats, Chamoli district has 41 candidates for 19 seats, Tehri has 34 candidates for 17 seats, Pauri has 123 candidates for 60 seats, and Rudraprayag has 26 candidates for 13 seats. Notably, Bageshwar district has recorded an exceptionally high number of 1,600 candidates though the exact number of posts in the district could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report.
