Uttarakhand Urban Local Body Polls Achieve 66 Percent Voter Turnout Amid Protests

A voter turnout of 66% was observed in Uttarakhand's urban local body elections, as reported by State Election Commission officials. The polling process started at 8 am and concluded at 5 pm, with those already in line by the end time allowed to vote. Despite a largely peaceful voting day, some booths experienced protests due to missing names on the voters' list.

Missing Names and Voting Issues

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, a senior Congress leader, also faced the issue of his name being absent from the voter list. "I have brought it to the notice of the State Election Commission. They are looking into it," he stated. Additionally, some voters complained about slow voting processes at certain booths, which added to the day's challenges.

The elections involved 100 urban local bodies, including 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 nagar panchayats. A total of 5,405 candidates contested in these elections. Among them were 72 candidates vying for mayoral positions, 445 for municipal council chairperson roles, and 4,888 for municipal councillor posts.

Security and Polling Arrangements

State Election Commissioner Sushil Kumar highlighted that Uttarakhand has 30,29,000 registered voters. To facilitate the elections, 1,515 polling centres and 3,394 polling booths were established. Ensuring a smooth election process required deploying 25,800 security personnel alongside 16,284 polling staff across these locations.

The voting was conducted using ballots to determine the winners among the candidates. The counting of votes is scheduled for January 25. This will conclude the electoral process and reveal the elected representatives for various urban local bodies in Uttarakhand.