Campbell Bay, 25 Feb 2021
The tenure of the elected members of the Panchayats, Zilla Parishads and Port Blair Municipal Council have expired last year and election is due to be held. Due to COVID-19 Pandemic the elections to the above institutions were delayed and now the Election Commission of India has announced the dates for public draw of lots to allocate the seats reserved for women in these local bodies.
According to the Press Note released by the Election Commission of India, a public draw of lots will be held on 04th of March 2021 at 10:00 Am in Dr. B.R Ambedkar Auditorium, Port Blair to allocate the seats reserved for women in Gram Panchayats in South Andaman District (including Campbell Bay), Zilla Parishad, South Andaman and PBMC for forthcoming General Elections to these local bodies.
Further, another public draw of lots will be held at Community Hall, Zilla Parishad, Mayabunder on 05th of March 2021 at 11:30 Am to allocate the seats reserved for women in Gram Panchayats in North and Middle Andaman and Zilla Parishad, North and Middle Andaman.
Currently all the Gram Panchayats, Zilla Parishads and Port Blair Municipal Council are being managed by the designated officers of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration.
The local politics in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is all set to heat up after the drawing of the lots for allocation of seats reserved for women in the local bodies. This year the number of seats for elections has reduced because the Panchayat Samiti has been abolished in all of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The elections will be held in two tier system of Gram Panchayats and Zilla Parishads instead of the three tier system followed earlier.
All the Political Parties in Andaman and Nicobar Islands were waiting for the drawing of the lots for allocation of seats reserved for women to start declaring their candidates.
As soon as the seats reserved for women is declared after drawing of lots different candidates who wish to run for elections will start lobbying to obtain their desired seat from their respective political parties. This year due to reduced number of seats it will also be difficult for the Political Parties to decide on the candidates for different seats.
According to the Political Pundits this general election for Gram Panchayats, Zilla Parishads and Port Blair Municipal Council will be the most interesting elections in the history of the Islands.