Jharkhand Civic Body Polls Announced: Voting on Feb 23, Counting on Feb 27

Ranchi: The state election commission on Tuesday announced the date for the long-pending civic body polls, after which the model mode of conduct has come into effect.Voting for a total of 48 civic bodies will take place on Feb 23, and counting will take place on Feb 27, the notification said.Of the total civic bodies, nine are municipal corporations, 20 are municipal councils, and 19 are nagar parishads, comprising a total of 1,087. Sounding the poll bugle, state election commissioner Alka Tiwari said, “Of the 48 civic bodies, 42 are either at the end of their tenure or awaiting polls while six are newly formed civic bodies where voting is set to take place.”The term of the new elected bodies will be for five years, Tiwari said, stressing the voting would take place through ballot papers, and all ground works related to it have been completed. There will be no NOTA option in the election. “The total number of voters in the upcoming municipal election is 43,33,574, including 22,07,203 males, 21,26,227 females and 144 third gender voters,” she said.According to the notification, the election will not be based on party lines, and the voting will take place to elect ward members and mayors. However, the post of deputy mayor/vice-chairperson is unreserved and would be filled through indirect election, the commission said.On the number of polling stations, Tiwari said, “A total of 4,304 polling stations have been set up in 2,129 buildings. All districts have been directed to ensure basic minimum facilities at each polling station.”While BJP welcomed the announcement, it accused the government of conducting the polls through ballot papers to “influence the election”. State BJP president Aditya Sahu said, “We had been demanding the election be conducted on party basis and through EVMs this time, too, similar to the civic body elections in 2018, but the Hemant govt’s intentions do not appear clean.”Congress, a part of the ruling alliance in the state, however, welcomed ballot paper-based elections. The chief spokesperson of the party, Lal Kishore Nath Shahdeo, said, “Although the polls are not being held on party lines, our party is fully prepared to ensure the victory of Congress-backed candidates in the municipal election. Efforts will also be made to ensure the victory of our alliance-backed candidates.”On the saffron party's charge, he said, “BJP’s fear of ballot paper shows that they do not have faith in the direct votes of the people. They are experts in rigging EVMs.”