Uncertainty looms over the timely conduct of local body elections as the possibility of an extended lockdown and restrictions in social movements stares at the State.
New regimes have to come to power in the 1,200 local bodies of the State in November, going by the provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act.
It is the delay in initiating the delimitation process that is worrying those at the State Election Commission (SEC) as the elections to the local bodies could be held only after completing the exercise. Though the secretaries of all local bodies were to undergo a training on April 6 and 7, it had to be postponed in the wake of COVID-19-induced lockdown.
The Delimitation Commission, which is to decide on the future course of action, also could not meet since the outbreak of the disease as the members were busy engaged in the pandemic control measures. Those at the SEC were hoping that the social situation would become conducive for the Delimitation Commission to meet during the first week of April and reschedule the training process.
However, the possibility of lifting the restrictions seems to be bleak in the coming weeks, thus plunging the poll process into uncertainty. The delimitation process, through which the contours of all the divisions in the local bodies will be redrawn by taking into account the increase in population during the last one decade, would take at least five months to complete.
The secretaries of local bodies were supposed to submit the draft delimitation proposals to the District Election Officers by April 22 and the draft final list to be released to public domain on April 27. The general public and political parties should be given a fortnight to verify the list and raise complaints, if any. The schedule for the poll process had gone haywire following the spread of the viral disease, said SEC sources.
A host of litigations challenging the delimitation process are pending before the Kerala High Court, which is considering only urgent cases, since the lockdown. More litigations are likely to come up when the draft list is published. The delay in the litigations could further delay the poll process, the sources said.
At the same time, State Election Commissioner V. Bhaskaran remained hopeful of conducting the elections on time. “We have time till October to hold the election. If everything goes well, the delimitation process can begin in May and will be completed in four months. Elections will be held in two phases,” said Mr. Bhaskaran.
