Himachal Pradesh Gears Up for Urban Local Body Elections on May 17
The Himachal Pradesh State Election Commission has officially announced that elections to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the state will be held on May 17.
Sharing the details at a press conference in Shimla on Tuesday, State Election Commissioner Anil Khachi said that polling will take place in 51 Urban Local Bodies in a single phase. These include the Municipal Corporations of Solan, Mandi, Dharamsala, and Palampur, along with 25 Nagar Parishads and 22 Nagar Panchayats.
According to the commissioner, the counting of votes for the four Municipal Corporations will be conducted on May 31, while votes in the remaining Urban Local Bodies will be counted immediately after polling. He also clarified that elections in Nagar Panchayats and Nagar Parishads will be held without party symbols, whereas the Municipal Corporation elections will be contested on party symbols of recognized political parties.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect immediately across the state, Khachi added.
He further informed that the election schedule for Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), including Gram Panchayats, will be announced within the next week. Notably, the Supreme Court of India has set May 31 as the deadline for conducting Panchayat elections in Himachal Pradesh.
To ensure smooth voting, the Election Commission has allowed voters to use any one of 16 approved identity documents as proof of identity. These include the Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving licence, voter ID, and ration card, among others.
