BENGALURU: The State Government has released Rs 25 lakh as against Rs 168 crore allocated in the budget to the State Election Commission (SEC), indicating that it is not keen on holding any elections, including the zilla and taluk panchayat polls, till the end of this year because of the prevailing Covid situation.The State Government had earlier scheduled to hold taluk and zilla panchayat elections in May and June this year. But a few weeks ago, it decided to postpone them. Now, these elections are unlikely to be held till the end of this year.
The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department Under Secretary has issued an order stating that as there are no elections anytime soon, they are releasing only Rs 25 lakh to the SEC.RDPR sources said that the State does not have enough funds and also it does not want to take any risks by holding the elections during the pandemic. “The government is keen on cancelling the elections for this year and it may allow existing TP and ZP members to continue,’’ they added.
State Election Commissioner B Basavaraju said that Covid cases are coming down, but the lockdown has not been lifted in many districts. “At least 10 districts still have a high number of Covid cases. Before April, we had directed all DCs to prepare for TP and ZP polls. Some of them had prepared the electoral rolls, but then Covid cases started going up and the government announced the lockdown. We need at least a month to prepare for elections,” he added. Asked about the drastic cut in allocation to the SEC, he said that when polls are announced, they will approach the State Government for more funds.