PUDUCHERRY The Puducherry Maanila Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (PMMMK) led a protest today, highlighting the government’s 13-year delay in holding Local Body Elections (LBE) in the Union Territory.
The agitation, held in front of the Oulgaret Municipality Office in Reddiarpalayam, saw participation from several organizations, including the Federation of Local, CPI-ML, Mahatma Gandhi Iyakkam, and Tamilar Kalam.
M Ramadass, former Lok Sabha member and President of PMMMK who led the agitation expressed frustration at the Puducherry government's failure to conduct local elections since 2006, pointing out that the last election should have been held in 2011. Despite the extended delay, no election has been conducted, leaving the local governance structure in a prolonged state of limbo.
The State Election Commission had planned to hold local body elections in early 2021, but the process was halted by a court order, which stipulated that the polls could only proceed after reservations for OBCs in local bodies were finalised.
In response, the Puducherry government appointed the single-member commission headed by Justice Sasidharan on December 17, 2021, to identify and assess the backward classes population in 116 wards across five municipalities and 108 village panchayats in 10 commune panchayats in the UT.
The commission was appointed on December 20, 2021, with a mandate to complete its work within six months. However, more than 34 months have passed since its appointment, and the commission has yet to submit its report. Protesters demanded that the Puducherry government press the commission to expedite its work and submit its findings without further delay to pave the way for the long-overdue elections.