Chennai: Indicating that the stage is set for the long pending civic polls in Tamilnadu, the State Election Commission today informed the Supreme Court that notification for local body elections will be issued on 2 December.
Earlier, the apex court directed the SEC to submit details regarding the local body polls in Tamilnadu before 13 December.
Today, the SEC informed the SC that the notification will be issued 2 December. This has prompted political parties to speed up works including selection of candidates and sharing of seats among alliance partners.
The civic polls to elect over 4,400 plus Councillors in urban local bodies, including Corporation and Municipalities, and about 8,200 town panchayat ward members are expected to be held before the year end.
As regards rural civic bodies, there are posts including that of village panchayat presidents (12,524) and ward members (99,324).
The civic polls were originally slated to be held in October 2016 but had been delayed following litigations in the Madras High Court and later in the Supreme Court over aspects including reservation of seats.
When the State Election Commission announced local body polls in 2016, DMK approached Madras High Court and stayed the notification as there were some issues in the reservation for the Adhi Dravidar (SC/ST) candidates which went as an advantage for the AIADMK. Since then, the local body polls were not conducted in Tamilnadu, amidst the political instability which prevailed in the State.
The SEC mentioned in the High Court, after MHC took a sue motto that the demarcation work was pending according to the new population census which is taking more time for them to announce the final voter list for the local body polls which is a complex process.
The officials of the Corporation, Municipalities and Panchayats acted as representatives and had the powers of Mayors, Councillors for last three years and the State government extended the powers for the local body executives for more than six times.