Ranchi

The Jharkhand State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday that elections for 48 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state, including Ranchi, will be held on February 23, with vote counting scheduled for February 27.

State Election Commissioner Alka Tiwari said the nomination process will begin on January 29 and continue until February 4. Scrutiny of nominations is set for February 5, while candidates can withdraw by February 6. Allotment of election symbols will take place on February 7.

Over 43.33 lakh voters, including 21.26 lakh women, are eligible to vote across 1,087 wards in nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads, and 19 nagar panchayats. Mayors and chairpersons, as well as ward councillors, will be elected directly, while deputy mayors and vice-chairpersons will be chosen indirectly.

The SEC clarified that these ULB elections will be conducted on a non-party basis, although candidates may have political backing. This follows a 2019 decision by the Hemant Soren government, which reversed the earlier practice of holding polls on party lines, a move previously opposed by the BJP and Congress.

Security arrangements will be in place at 4,304 polling booths, with 896 identified as hyper-sensitive and 2,445 as sensitive. Voting will be by ballot paper, and the NOTA option will not be available.

Expenditure limits for candidates have also been defined: mayors of large municipal corporations (population over 10 lakh) can spend up to Rs 25 lakh, while smaller corporations have a Rs 15 lakh ceiling. Chairpersons of nagar parishads and panchayats may spend between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, and ward councillors between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, depending on population.

ALSO READ: Padma Bhushan for Mammootty and Padma Shri for 4 more Muslims

The elections come after long delays, with 14 ULBs pending since May 2020 and 34 since April 2023. Until now, all civic bodies have been under administrative control.