Two Pithoragarh blocks turned into reserved seats

PITHORAGARH: Ahead of panchayat elections scheduled next month in the eight blocks of Pithoragarh district, directorate of panchayati raj , on Monday, converted the seats of Berinag and Gangolihat block chiefs into reserved ones.


While the seat of Pithoragarh’s Berinag block chief has now been reserved for a woman (from any category) candidate, the Gangolihat block chief seat can now be contested only by candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste category.

“Now, the elections will be conducted according to the revised reservation arrangements,” SL Arya, district panchayat raj officer, told TOI.

The move comes days after Uttarakhand high court ruled in favour of two petitioners — Manoj Bhatt and Deepak Singh — and turned the two reserved seats of Munakot and Dharchula block chiefs into general ones.

Earlier, Munakot block chief seat was reserved for woman and Dharchula block chief seat was reserved for Scheduled Caste category.

“Though the election of a block chief is an indirect one, the block development committee which elects the block chiefs is directly elected by voters. The new arrangement is upsetting for the general category leaders of Gangolihat block and male leaders of Berinag block,” Prakash Pande, a political analyst, told TOI.