Election Commission sets ball rolling for Shimla MC poll

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Shimla, February 2

The State Election Commission has set the ball rolling for the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) elections that are due in June. The Election Commission today released the schedule for the process of delimitation, which will start on February 9 and finish on or before March 9. The Election Commission has also directed the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to complete the process of reservation of wards by March 11.

A spokesperson for the State Election Commission said here today that the instructions have been given to Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, to prepare the draft proposal by dividing the wards of MC Shimla by February 10, and to invite objections from residents. “The objections can be filed with the DC office during till February 17, and the Deputy Commissioner will settle the objections on or before February 24,” said the spokesperson.

In case any person is not satisfied with the decision of the Deputy Commissioner, he can appeal to the Divisional Commissioner. “The appeal can be filed either by March 3, 2022, or earlier within seven days of the decisions of Deputy Commissioner,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson further said that the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla, would redress the appeal within five days. “The last notification of the wards of MC Shimla would be issued by the Deputy Commissioner on March 9,” the spokesperson said. Following the completion of the delimitation process, the process of reservation of wards would have to be completed by March 11.

At the moment, there are 34 wards in Shimla MC. The number of wards at the time of last elections in 2017 was 25. This time, too, the numbers of wards are likely to increase, and a few wards are likely to have their boundaries redefined.

With the release of the delimitation schedule by the state election commission, the government will have to do it in a time-bound manner.

The schedule

• The process of delimitation to start on Feb 9 and end on or before March 9
• Objections can be filed with the DC office till Feb 17
• The DC to settle the objections on or before Feb 24
• Last notification of the wards to be issued on March 9
• The process of reservation of wards to be completed by March 11