Himachal: 50 urban local bodies to go to polls on Jan 10

Elections to 50 urban local bodies in Himachal Pradesh will be held on January 10, as per a notification issued by state election commission Thursday. With this, the model code of conduct has come into force in all the 50 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, the commission said.

There are 29 municipal councils in the state having a total of 263 wards, all of which will go to polls, electoral officer Sanjeev Mahajan said. Among the 27 nagar panchayats, the six newly-created panchayats of Amb, Chirgaon, Kandaghat, Nerwa, Nirmand and Anni have not been included in the elections. In the remaining 21voters will elect a total of 150 ward members, Mahajan said.

The election notification said that nomination papers can be presented on December 24, 26 and 28 and they will be scrutinised on December 29. A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature till 3pm on December 31 and immediately afterwards on the same day, the list of contesting candidates will be prepared and displayed. The list of polling stations will be displayed on or before December 24 and polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on January 10.

Counting of votes will be done immediately after the closure of polls at the municipal headquarters and results will be declared immediately after the counting is over. The whole electoral process will be completed by January 12, the notification said. Elections to rural bodies in the state are also likely to be held soon.

Himachal urban local body polls

Municipal Councils – 29

Nagar Panchayats – 21 out of 27

Total wards – 413

Dates:

Filing of nomination papers: December 24, 26 and 28

Scrutiny of papers: December 29

Withdrawal of candidature: December 31

Voting: January 10

Counting and results: Immediately after polling