Delays in civic polls spotlight weak state election commissions' powers

According to a survey, 61 per cent of urban local bodies in 15 major states, including Karnataka, saw delayed civic elections

Uttarakhand concluded its civic and panchayat elections on Thursday after a delay of over a year, with vote counting scheduled for Saturday. This delay, however, pales in comparison to the postponement of elections in urban and rural local bodies across India.

 

For instance, the last elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation were held in 2017, and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike completed its term in September 2020. There have been no elections held in these urban local bodies since.

 

Thirty-one years after the enactment of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution, which gave constitutional status to local bodies,