After getting a green signal from the High Court of Madras, the Puducherry State Election Commission has scheduled the civic elections in the Union Territory in three phases from January 4 to January 10.
The counting would be held on January 12 and results would be announced on the same day, State Election Commissioner Uddipta Ray told a press conference on Monday. However, the conduct of the polls would be subject to the outcome of the writ petition pending in the High Court.
The polls would be held to elect five municipal chairpersons for Puducherry, Oulgaret, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, 122 municipal councillors, 98 commune panchayat council members, 98 village panchayat presidents, and 815 village panchayat ward members in 10 commune panchayats of Ariyankuppam, Bahour, Mannadipet, Nettapakkam, Villianur, Kottucherry, Nedungadu, Nearvy, Thirumalairayanpattinam and Thirunallar.
As many as 1,326 polling stations have been identified wherein, 7,300 officers would be deployed. Puducherry has an 8.32-lakh-strong electorate, of which 4.88 lakh are from the five municipalities and the rest from the 10 commune panchayats.
In the first phase of the local body elections announced by the Puducherry State Election Commission, municipalities and panchayats in the outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam would go to polls on Jan 4. The local bodies in Puducherry region have been split into phases two and three and the voting would be held on Jan 8 and 10 respectively.
In Phase I, polling for Karaikal Municipality, Mahe Municipality and Yanam Municipality, and the commune panchayats in Kottucherry, Nedungadu, Neravy, Thirumalairayanpattinam and Thirunallar would be taken up on Jan 4.
In phase II, polling would be taken up on Jan 8 for Puducherry Municipality, Oulgaret Municipality and Ariyankuppam Commune Panchayat. In phase III, the commune panchayats of Bahour, Mannadipet, Nettapakkam and Villianur would go to polls on Jan 10.
The filing of nominations for the first phase would begin on December 14. The last date of filing of nominations would be December 21, scrutiny would be held on December 22 and the deadline for withdrawal of nominations was on December 24.
For the second phase, filing of nominations would begin on December 17 and the last date would be December 24. Scrutiny would be taken up on December 26, and withdrawal of nominations would be effected on December 28.