HP urban local body elections to be held on May 17

Shimla: The state election commission on Monday announced elections for 51 urban local bodies in Himachal Pradesh, with polling scheduled for May 17. The model code of conduct came into immediate effect across all urban bodies going to polls.State election commissioner Anil Khachi said the elections would cover four municipal corporations, including Solan, Dharamshala, Palampur and Mandi, along with 25 municipal councils or nagar parishads and 22 nagar panchayats, spanning a total of 449 wards where the reservation roster had been finalised. The nomination papers will be filed on April 29, 30 and May 2 between 11am and 3pm, while scrutiny will take place on May 4. Candidates can withdraw their nominations by May 6, after which election symbols will be allotted. Voting will be conducted on May 17 from 7am to 3pm. Counting for nagar panchayats and nagar parishads will be held on the same day, whereas results for municipal corporations will be declared on May 31. A total of 3.60 lakh voters are registered, including 1.80 lakh men and 1.79 lakh women. A total of 589 polling stations have been established. The commission has capped election expenditure at Rs 1 lakh for municipal corporation candidates, Rs 75,000 for nagar parishads and Rs 50,000 for nagar panchayats. The nagar parishad and nagar panchayat polls will not be held on party symbols; the elections for municipal corporations will be based on party symbols. Khachi said total voters could show any of the 16 identity cards, including Aadhaar card, PAN card, voter card, driving licence and ration card, as identity proof. The elections to panchayati raj institutions(PRIs) are likely to be announced after April 27, once the final voter list is published. The Supreme Court has ordered to conclude the election process for the PRIs by May 31.