GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has asked the state government and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to respond regarding the GMC council elections, which have not been held for the last two years.
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The court has asked the reason for the delay in the elections. This comes after a petition was filed by Advocate Mira Borthakur regarding the matter.
G Plus spoke to the petitioner Mira Borthakur who stated that "they initially stated that the delay was for the COVID-19. However, the people of the city are suffering without an elected body."
The GMC is without an elected body of councilors to take care of the civic issues of the city. The ward elections were last held in 2013, the term for which ended in July 2018.
G Plus spoke to a former woman councilor Anima Deka of Ward 20. She highlighted that existing problem such as drainage, streetlight issues loom large in the city. Deka too agreed that “approachability” is a concern for the general public. "The people still approach us but it is difficult to intervene as we are not in power,” said Anima Deka.
There are also talks of increasing the current 31 wards of the city to 60. The former ward councilors and the mayor himself stated that talks are going on in this regard. Insiders say the exercise will delay the electoral process again.
Earlier, G Plus spoke to Alok Kumar, State Election Commissioner who provided the latest, "I have written to the government to complete delimitation if they are considering the process. Even without that election can continue," said Alok Kumar. Nonetheless, he stated that ward reservation is paramount.
As per Article 243T, seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in every municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall bear. Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the SCs and the STs) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every municipality shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a municipality, among others.
"The priority of ward reservation is more than that of delimitation. Reservation is a hurdle as it involves rotation. Off-field processes need to be completed first and then only we must proceed to an election," said the State Election Commissioner. "The Constitution is strict and a new GMC Council should have been constituted,” he reflected on the need for a GMC council.
Although, the Covid-19 pandemic has been cited as a barrier against holding electoral polls in Assam, the Rajasthan Gram Panchayat elections is all set to begin in a phase-wise manner from September 28 to October 10, 2020. The Election Commission of India, on 21st August 2020, had already published the guidelines for conducting elections during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Assam SEC has adopted them so far.
In that scenario, not finalising the processes to complete the elections and leave the citizens without an elected municipal body has hindered their needs and is against the democratic ethos of the country.
As per Article 243U of the Constitution of India, an election to constitute a fresh Municipality/Municipal Corporation body is to be completed before the expiry of the term of the previous body i.e., 5 years.
Things can only be cleared when the government responds to the Gauhati HC.
