Nainital, June 23 (IANS) In a setback to the Uttarakhand government, the Nainital High Court on Monday stayed the two-phase gram panchayats elections next month, directing implementation of a new reservation rotation formula.

Voting for the three-tier rural bodies was scheduled to be held on July 10 and July 15, and counting of votes was scheduled for July 19.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice G. Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra put the brakes on the elections at a time when the process had reached an advanced stage. The elections were to be notified on Monday, ahead of the filing of nominations between June 25 and 28 for the first phase.

The High Court bench was hearing a petition filed by Bageshwar resident Ganesh Dutt Kandpal and others who alleged that reserved seats had remained the same over the past three tenures and the government had followed the same formula for the current elections as well.

One of the petitioners claimed that since the same reservation formula had been adopted by the State Election Commission, he was denied an opportunity to contest from a seat of his choice.

Following the High Court’s intervention on Monday, the schedule for the elections to pick 74,499 Gram Pradhans, 55,600 Gram Panchayat members, 2,974 Kshetra Panchayat members and 358 Zila Panchayat members will have to be reworked now.

As per the now-stayed plans of the State Election Commission, District Election Officers were supposed to issue a detailed notification on Monday, paving the way for the filing of nomination papers from June 25 to June 28.

The candidates were supposed to be allotted election symbols on July 3 for balloting on July 10.

The petitioner’s advocate claimed that he had also challenged in court the reservation rules issued on June 9.

On June 21, Uttarakhand State Election Commissioner Sushil Kumar said a notification had been issued and, except for Haridwar district, Panchayat elections 2025 will be held in all 12 districts.

With his announcement, the Model Code of Conduct kicked in immediately on Saturday.

–IANS

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