Rajasthan municipal polls to be held on Jan 28, code of conduct in force

Elections to 90 urban local bodies in 20 districts of Rajasthan will be held on January 28, the state election commission said on Tuesday. With the announcement of the elections, the model code of conduct has come into effect in the areas going to the polls.

Jaipur: Voting for the 90 Rajasthan Municipal Corporation divisions will be held on January 28 and the vote counts will be started on January 31, according to a notification released by the Rajasthan State Election Commission (RSEC) on Tuesday.

The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force with immediate effect. Also, the polling time has been fixed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., from 8 am to 6 pm.

According to the notification released by State Election Commissioner P S Mehra, nomination filing process will start right after the election notification is issued on January 11.

The last date for filing nomination papers is January 15. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on January 16 and they can be withdrawn before January 19. Election symbols will be allotted on January 20

Mehra said the notification for the election of chairpersons will be issued on February 1. Nomination papers can be submitted till February 3.

He said the polling for the chairperson post will be held from 7 am to 2 pm on February 7, while the counting of votes will take place immediately after the end of polling. Similarly, the election for the vice-chairperson post will be held on February 8, he added.

Mehra said over 29.51 lakh voters have been registered in 90 urban bodies. Of these, 15.11 lakh are men, 14.40 lakh are women and 62 other category voters.

He said more than 6,000 EVM machines will be used in the election. He also said 5,253 polling stations have been set up for the exercise.

Mehra said due to the requirement of personnel or officers for conducting elections, there will be a complete ban on transfer and posting of officers and employees of all departments (other than essential services) in these 20 districts.