Udupi Panchayat elections likely only after Lok Sabha Elections conclude

Udupi: Despite the state government notifying reservations for Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elected member seats, the elections for these seats could likely be held after the Lok Sabha elections conclude.

Currently, all parties are gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections, making it challenging to manage additional elections for Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat seats simultaneously. Therefore, these elections are expected to be postponed by at least five or six months.

The next step involves fixing constituency-wise reservations for Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections, followed by inviting and finalizing objections. The timeline for completing this process and scheduling the elections remains unclear. If the schedule is released in the first or second week of February, there may be 7 or 15-day window for objections.

If no objections are raised, the election process can proceed smoothly. However, if objections are lodged, the election process may face delays, especially considering the school examinations scheduled in March and the increasing preparations for the Lok Sabha elections. Consequently, there’s speculation within the political circles that the district and taluk panchayat elections might occur in August or September.

Following the finalization of voter lists of the Zilla panchayat, and Taluk Panchayat seats, leaders had been strategizing to secure local power. However, this has all come to none. Notably, 14 out of 28 constituencies in Udupi Zilla Panchayat and 49 out of 95 constituencies in Taluk Panchayat have been reserved for women.

The state government issued this notification after accepting the commission’s report on the delimitation of constituency boundaries and the number of members to be elected for Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat.

Regarding Udupi Zilla Panchayat reservations, out of 26 constituencies, 14 are allocated to women, two to Scheduled Castes (one of which is for women), four out of seven posts in Backward Class (A) for women, and two posts in Backward Class (B) for one man and one woman. Additionally, seven out of 15 general seats are reserved for women.

In Taluk Panchayats, out of a total of 95 seats across seven taluks, 49 are reserved for women. The distribution across taluks is as follows: Hebri (7 seats, 4 for women), Byndur (11 seats, 6 for women), Kapu (12 seats, 6 for women), Udupi (13 seats, 7 for women), Brahmavar and Karkala (16 seats each, 8 for women), and Kundapur (20 seats, 10 for women).