LUCKNOW: The dates for the municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh have been announced on April 9. These elections will be held in two phases on May 4 and 11. The results will come on 13 May. State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar while releasing the notification of the urban body election said that elections will be held for a total of 14,684 posts in 17 municipal corporations, 199 municipal councils and 544 nagar panchayats. These include 17 posts of mayor in municipal corporations and 743 posts of president of municipal council and nagar panchayats. Councilors and members will be elected for 13,924 wards. The commissioner informed that in the first phase elections will be held in the urban bodies of 37 districts including the state capital Lucknow. Over 4.32 crore voters will elect the government of the cities. After the notification of the election, the model code of conduct has come into force across the state.
In the second phase elections will be held in 38 districts. Elections in 17 municipal corporations will be conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) while elections in Nagar Palika Parishad and Nagar Panchayats will be held through ballot papers. He informed that in comparison to the year 2017, 107 urban bodies have increased in this election, including one municipal corporation, one municipal council and 105 nagar panchayats. In 2017 total voters were 3,35,95,547 while this time 4,32,29,379 voters will exercise their franchise. The commission has put two lakh personnel on duty for the elections.
The State Election Commission will conduct webcasting of sensitive polling stations. Through this, online monitoring and videography will be done. The State Election Commissioner said that instructions have been given to take strict action against those involved in irregularities in all the districts. He told that a large number of police and PAC personnel would be deployed for peaceful polling.
It has been decided to ban liquor for 48 hours in polling districts. That is, in the district where polling will take place, as soon as the election campaign stops, liquor shops will also be closed. The State Election Commissioner has already instructed all the districts to strictly implement liquor ban. Along with this, liquor shops will remain closed in the entire state on May 13, the day of counting of votes.
