Gujarat: Local polls on schedule, says election commission

GANDHINAGAR: Putting to rest all worries and speculations, the state election commission has said that urban and local body polls will be held according to schedule in November. In view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the commission also said that all necessary precautions will have to be taken to hold the polls.
Civic body elections will be held for six municipal corporations — Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar — along with 56 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 230 taluka panchayats.
M V Joshi, secretary and spokesperson of the state election commission, said, “The commission is fully prepared to conduct the urban and rural local body elections in November. There is no deliberation to postpone the polls due to the current Covid-19 issue.”
Joshi added that the election commission has already begun preparations to conduct the local body elections in November. “The state government has recently added areas of municipalities and outgrowth areas in different municipal corporations, so we have initiated necessary ward delimitation process. We expect that within two months we will be able to complete delimitation, if the state government issues necessary notifications on time,’’ Joshi added.
Commenting on the safety precautions, Joshi said consultations have been planned with different stakeholders and district officials about safety aspects in the pandemic scenario. “A detailed plan will be prepared for managing elections in containment areas, if any, at the time of elections. We will also study measures being taken by the Election Commission of India for the various assembly seat bypolls and adopt all such measures in our local elections,’’ he said.
Replying to a question about electoral rolls, the official said that the state election commission will adopt the assembly election electoral rolls for the November elections.
“However, after delimitation, some rural voters will be counted as urban voters and adjustments will be made accordingly,” he said.