Jharkhand civic polls to be completed by March, SEC submits timeline to High Court

Ranchi, Nov 24 (IANS) The long-pending elections to all 48 municipal corporations and municipal bodies in Jharkhand are set to be completed by March next year. The Hemant Soren government told the High Court on Monday that it has made all preparations for conducting elections.

The State Election Commission (SEC) also submitted a sealed timeline to the High Court during the hearing on the matter on Monday.

The state government informed the court that it has completed all required formalities and handed over all documents, including OBC reservation details and population data, to the Commission.

Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan told the bench that the State Election Commission does not require any further information from the government.

The SEC informed the court that it would need at least eight weeks to complete election preparations, after which the notification can be issued, and the poll process will be completed within 45 days.

Taking note of the submission, the High Court directed the Commission to conduct the elections as per the proposed schedule. The next hearing has been listed for March 30.

The direction came during the hearing of a contempt petition filed by petitioners Roshni Khalkho and Reena Kumari, who sought compliance with the court’s earlier order mandating timely municipal elections.

Advocate Vinod Kumar Singh presented the case on behalf of the petitioner, while Advocate Sumit Gadodia appeared for the State Election Commission.

The SEC also confirmed to the court that all government formalities are now complete and that it will proceed with issuing notifications and initiating the election process.

The term of all municipal bodies in Jharkhand expired in April 2023. Elections scheduled for April 27, 2023, were postponed due to the incomplete “triple test” process required to determine OBC reservation quotas.

Since then, all municipal corporations, municipalities, municipal councils, and town councils have been run by government-appointed administrators, with no elected representatives for over two years.

No municipal election has taken place in the state since 2023.

--IANS

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