The State Election Commission (SEC) on Friday declared a two-phase poll schedule from November 22 to December 2 for 323 local self-Government bodies including six Municipal Corporations - Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.
The polls announced by the SEC followed after a rap on its knuckles by the Gujarat High Court, which had described its move to put off the electoral process as unconstitutional.
The first phase of polling will be held for six out of eight city Municipal Corporations on November 22 and the votes will be counted on November 26, informed State Election Commissioner Varesh Sinha to media on Friday afternoon.
Polling for the district and tehsil panchayats as well as Municipalities would be held on November 29 and counting for the same will be held on December 2, said Sinha.
The Model of Conduct has immediately come into force with the announcement of the poll dates by the State Election Commission. The filing of nominations begins on November 1.
As many as 230 taluka (tehsil) panchayats, 56 nagarpalikas (Municipalities) and 31 district panchayats will go to polls apart from six Municipal Corporations.
Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party has ruled in 150 taluka panchayats, 42 Municipalities and 30 district panchayats, excluding that of Tapi in South Gujarat, which is with the Congress. All the eight Municipal Corporations including the six going for the polls are being controlled by the saffron party.
The Gujarat High Court had on October 20 directed SEC to start the electoral exercise forthwith, rejecting an Ordinance seeking to postpone the elections citing law and order concerns in the wake of the pro-reservation agitation by Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).
The court felt frustrated by the State Government’s attempt to appoint administrators on the local bodies by putting off the elections and observed that there was no such legal provision.
The High Court wondered why elections could not be held to local bodies, when polling could be successfully conducted in strife-torn Jammu & Kashmir.