Notification for elections of eight civic bodies is likely to be issued towards the latter half of April as the State Election Commission appears to be prepared in all respects to conduct elections for the lowest institution of democracy in urban and semi-urban areas of Jharkhand. The elections are likely to be conducted in the month of May.
“The commission is fully prepared. We will send recommendation to the Governor and the notification will be issued as soon as we get assent by the Governor. The notification is likely to come in this month,” said Additional Secretary, State Election Commission, Md M Khan. Officials of the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday held a meeting with Chief Secretary Rajiv Gauba to convey their expectations from the State Government and made request of administrative support to accomplish the task of electing representatives to the eight institutions. The agenda of the meeting was force deployment, phasing of elections, deployment of para-military forces and filling up vacant positions in the administrative setup as Panchayat elections are also likely to be held in the month of October-November.
“Municipal elections are scheduled to take place in May. So, we have asked them to fill up vacant positions of BDOs, COs and other types of man power wherever required in the election machinery,” said Khan. The eight municipal bodies scheduled to go to elections in May include three municipal corporations—Dhanbad, Deoghar and Chas (newly formed)– and five municipal councils—Kodarma, Jhumri Tilaiya, Vishrampur, Manjhiaon and Chakradharpur. Besides, bye-elections are on cards for five municipal bodies—election for ward-39 of Ranchi Municipal Corporation, Adityapur, Medininagar, Phusro and Mihijam—because of vacant seat due to various reasons.
However, the recommendation to the Governor will be sent after a review meeting with all deputy commissioners and all superintendents of police. The meeting will be held on April 18 to assess preparedness with regard to municipal elections and Panchayat elections likely to be held towards the end of 2015. The previous panchayat elections were conducted in October-December in 2010. Notably, Jharkhand has been divided into 54413 panchayats whereas number of municipal wards has increased from 44,000 to 54,000 due to rise in population.