Hours after Amit Shah’s public meeting Election Commission announces poll dates for Diu municipal council

This announcement comes just hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Praful Patel, administrator of the UT addressed a massive public rally in Diu on Saturday evening.

According to a press release issued by the election commission of the UT of DNH&DD, notification for the election to the 13 wards of the Diu Municipal Council (DMC) in Diu district will be issued on June 13. According to the notification, Nomination papers can be filed till June 20. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on June 21 and June 23 will be the last date of withdrawing candidature.

The notification said that polling, “if necessary” will be conducted on July 7 and counting of votes will take place on July 9.

With the announcement of poll dates, the model code of conduct of election came into force on Sunday.

The polls also come around a month after seven of the nine Congress councillors of Diu Municipal Council defected to the BJP, formally ending 15-year-long rule of Congress in the civic body.

In fact, the Congress had virtually lost power in the DMC on December 18 last when the UT administration suspended DMC president Hitesh Solanki, citing a case of disproportionate assets pending against him and since then, the chief officer of the civic body had assumed administrative control of the DMC.

The defections had left Congress red-faced and overturned a sweeping majority it had got by winning 10 out of 13 seats of DMC in the general election held in July, 2017.

At Shah’s public meeting organised by the administration of UT of DNH&DD, the Home Minister laid foundation stones of infrastructure projects worth Rs 80 crore, including a proposed cable car service between Diu and Ghoghla.
Shah had lavished praise on Patel, a BJP leader, who has served as junior home minister of Gujarat, saying the administrator had been giving concrete shape to the vision of Narendra Modi for development of Diu.

Incidentally, Shah had also held a lengthy meeting with local BJP leaders and party workers before the public meeting.

The local BJP leaders had also joined Shah in a dinner later on Sunday evening after the Union Home Minister inaugurated INS Khukri memorial in Diu.