The declaration of results of lok Sabha elections on Friday also brought an end to the Model Code of Conduct in the State. However. the State would again be under the spell of Model Code of Conduct from May 27, this time due to the Panchayat elections. The Panchayat elections in all the districts of the State barring Haridwar are scheduled on June 18, 21 and 24 and the State Election Commission would issue notification for these elections on May 27.
The term of the Panchayats in the State ended on September 29 last year but instead of going for polls the State Government opted to appoint administrators in them for a period of six months. The fact that the State Government does not intend to hold the elections became clear when it took the plea of disaster to further postpone the elections. The Supreme Court however forced the State Government to declare the schedule of these elections. The State Government gave the aforementioned dates to the court for these elections.
The State Government would issue notification for these polls on May 26 and the State Election Commission would notify these elections on May 27 and with its notification the Model Code of Conduct would again be enforced in the State. 46,91,003 voters would exercise their franchise in the Panchayat polls in the 12 districts of the State out of them 23,13,900 are female voters while 23,77,103 are male voters.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat consistently said during the election campaigning that he got only a months time to perform as Chief Minister of the state due to Model Code of Conduct and that he took many measures for welfare of the people in the little time he got. Rawat’s plea however failed to bring votes for the Congress party as it lost all the five seats in the state.
The Panchayat elections are not fought on the party symbols but the political parties take them very seriously and ask their workers to enter in the fray. The BJP ridding on the crest of Modi wave is hoping to sail through the Panchayat elections also. The Congress is banking on the fact that it is in power in the State so the people in Panchayat polls tend to vote to the candidates whose party is in power.