HYDERABAD: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday issued a gazette notification rescinding the election notice dated February 17, 2023. The 57 Cantonment Boards, including the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB), were directed to halt the ongoing process for elections, which were scheduled to be held on April 30.
Since the time of the announcement of cantonment elections earlier this year, there has been extreme resentment from the residents, welfare organisations and NGOs of all the 57 Cantonment Boards in the country. There are allegations that the temporary pause has been taken in the wake of elections in several States.
Speaking to TNIE, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Krishank Manne, said, “This decision might be taken by the MoD fearing defeat as the conditions are not favourable for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly elections in many States such as Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, among others.”
“The conduct of Cantonment Board elections is necessary as the board becomes a headless institute without a leader. The elections were supposed to be held two years ago but the nominated members are still on the board and the same kind of system has been continuing. This will result in further problems for the residents because of the lack of funds and other issues,” he added.
“While a merger of the cantonment area with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is important, elections are also needed for smooth governance till the merger process is completed by the Union government,” he opined.
Ravinder, general secretary of the Cantonment Vikas Manch, an SCB-based NGO, which filed a legal notice against the commencement of the Board elections, stated, “The residents of all the 57 cantonments in India staged protests and boycotts against the board election notice as it came at a time when the merging process has almost come to an end.”
“In SCB, we at least had the freedom to file a legal notice as many other cantonments do not even have that option,” he added. “We are grateful to the MoD for the decision and hope that the merger process is completed at the earliest. As we have seen the merger of the Kasol Cantonment in Himachal Pradesh with the municipality, we expect that the same can be implemented for all the other cantonments as well,” Ravinder said.
Jeetender Surana, general secretary of SCCiWA, said, “The election imbroglio has been created due to a lack of coordination between MoD and its two arms — the Indian Army and the Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE).