The State Election Commission (SEC), which has been making preparations for elections to urban local bodies (ULBs), is watching the move of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the polls in five State Assemblies, even though it is not oblivious to the trend of rising number of fresh COVID-19 cases.
As of now, the SEC is proceeding on the premise that it has to hold elections to the ULBs, for which the Supreme Court, in September, had set a deadline of four months. Also, if the ECI decides to announce the schedule for the elections to the Assemblies, the SEC will be left with no option other than conducting the ULBs’ polls. If the latter seeks any postponement of the elections, citing the pandemic as the reason, it may receive adverse feedback from different quarters that this cannot be the basis as even a large State like Uttar Pradesh is going to have Assembly polls. However, the whole situation may undergo a change if the Supreme Court revises its position and extends the deadline, considering the pace of spread of the virus. On Sunday, State Health Minister Ma. Subramanian declared that the third wave of the pandemic had begun.
In the meantime, the SEC is undertaking a work of ward-wise correlation of voters, based on the integrated draft electoral rolls of Special Summary Revision, which commenced in November. Once the final rolls are out shortly, the changes will be incorporated by the SEC in its rolls of voters for the wards of ULBs. Concurrently, the State Government is also expected to make public, sooner than later, the details regarding the reservation of wards for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, according to an official source.
There are 21 municipal corporations, 138 municipalities and 490 town panchayats in the State, which will be going to the polls.
