Irregularities in Municipal Elections Spark Call for Investigation, Fears of Result Manipulation

UTTARAKHAND: Social Activist Anoop Nautiyal Demands Probe into Municipal Elections Mishaps Social activist Anoop Nautiyal has called for a detailed investigation into the irregularities and mismanagement during the municipal elections and demanded that a comprehensive report identifying the shortcomings be released. He emphasized that such issues must be addressed to prevent similar problems in the future. Nautiyal criticized the Uttarakhand State Election Commission, saying its approach to conducting elections was highly irresponsible and negligent. In light of yesterday’s chaotic municipal elections, he has put forth three key demands to the commission. Report Within Two Weeks According to Nautiyal, there were widespread instances where voters’ names were missing from the electoral rolls, and voting proceeded at an extremely slow pace in many places. Even after the official end of voting at 5 PM, long queues remained at several polling stations, causing significant delays for voters. He insisted that the State Election Commission must conduct a detailed inquiry into the reasons behind these lapses and release a preliminary report within two weeks. Impact on Election Results Nautiyal expressed regret over the exclusion of a large number of voters from the rolls, calling it a violation of their democratic rights that cannot be undone. He also raised concerns that this could have a direct impact on the election results.

He stressed that voter numbers are not just statistical data. In the absence of a recent census, such figures could have been valuable for urban planning, aiding officials, public representatives, media personnel, and organizations working on urban issues. However, the significant number of missing voters has rendered these figures unreliable. Nautiyal urged the commission to investigate the total number of missing voters across all municipal areas and release a ward-wise and municipality-wise report within a month. Engagement with Stakeholders For his third demand, Nautiyal proposed that over the next month, stakeholder meetings be organized across all 100 municipal bodies in the state. These meetings should involve representatives from political parties, officials and staff involved in the elections, members of civil society organizations active during the elections, officials from the State Election Commission, and media personnel. These stakeholder meetings should focus on identifying the key issues that caused the irregularities and mismanagement during the elections. Based on these discussions, a roadmap should be prepared for future improvements. He also emphasized that a detailed report should be released based on the conclusions drawn from these meetings to ensure that lessons are learned and necessary electoral reforms are implemented for upcoming elections.