Elections will be held in 51 municipal bodies of Himachal Pradesh on May 17. State Election Commissioner Anil Khachi has today (Tuesday) announced elections in 25 Municipal Councils and 22 Nagar Panchayats including 4 Municipal Corporations (Solan, Mandi, Dharamshala and Palampur). With this, the code of conduct has come into force in urban bodies (ULBs). Anil Khachi said – The results of Nagar Panchayat and Municipal Councils will come only on the day of voting (May 17), whereas the results of four Municipal Councils will have to wait for May 31. He said that 1 lakh 80 thousand 963 male voters, 1 lakh 79 thousand 882 female voters and 14 other voters will vote in these elections. Altogether 3 lakh 60 thousand 859 voters will vote. Among these, there are 1808 voters who will vote for the first time after completing the age of 18 years. The commissioner said that the announcement of Panchayat elections will be made after a week. Elections are to be held in 3857 Panchayats of the state. Nominations start from April 29. While releasing the election programme, Anil Khachi said that the notice for these elections will be issued today (April 21) by the Returning Officer. Nomination forms will be filled on 29th and 30th April and 2nd May (till 3 pm). Their investigation will begin on May 4 from 10 am. The time for withdrawal of nominations is scheduled for May 6 (10 am to 3 pm). Election symbols will be allotted immediately after the withdrawal of nominations. Voting will start on May 17 at 7 am. Khachi said – the list of polling stations will have to be published on April 29, while voting will be held on May 17 from 7 am to 3 pm. To ensure that the results of Panchayati Raj institutions are not affected, the Municipal Corporation’s council has been kept on May 31, because Municipal Corporation elections are held on party symbols. This may impact the Zilla Parishad elections. Councilor candidates will be able to spend one lakh in Municipal Corporation. Anil Khachi said that the candidates contesting the corporation elections will be able to spend a maximum of one lakh rupees, while the candidates contesting the Municipal Council elections will be able to spend a maximum of Rs 75 thousand and the candidates contesting the Nagar Panchayat elections will be able to spend a maximum of Rs 50 thousand. Everyone will have to give details of election expenses within the next one month from the date of voting. Municipal elections will be held on the party symbol, Nagar Panchayat and Municipal Council elections will be held on the symbol by the Election Commission, while Municipal Corporation elections will be held on the party symbol. These elections will be held on EVMs, while Panchayat elections will be conducted through ballot paper. Instructions to officers not to leave the headquarters: Even before the announcement of elections, the Election Commission has given instructions to all DCs, SDMs and BDOs not to leave the headquarters nor will they be able to go on leave.
Source link