PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The opposition parties in Uttarakhand have taken a strong exception to the order of the State Election Commission in which it has asked the district magistrates not to cancel the nomination papers of such candidates whose names figure in the voter list of more than one village Panchayat and in the Urban Local Bodies.
The chief spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress Garima Dasauni said that while the nomination paper of a Gram Pradhan candidate in Bageshwar was cancelled for not having a toilet in his house, the SEC is allowing candidates with names in multiple voter lists. Terming the order of the secretary SEC ambiguous, Dasauni said that though the order clearly says that the candidatures of people having names in the voter lists of urban local bodies should not be cancelled it also directs that the provisions of section nine, subsection (6) of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016 should be followed. She claimed that the above mentioned clause clearly states that candidates of people having names in multiple voter lists.
The State secretary of CPI (ML) Indresh Maikhuri said that the letter of SEC secretary allowing candidatures of people having names in multiple voter lists is another example of hegemony of the State government. He said that the order not only violates the relevant sections of Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016, Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Amendment Act 2019 but also is against the provisions of the Representation of People Act 1950.
