Although there hasn’t been any official announcement yet about the dates for the three-level panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, it is expected that the panchayati raj elections will roll out and conclude in April.
The panchayati raj system, is also known as chhoti sansad or a mini-parliament owing to its importance in rural governance and administration. In these elections, citizens elect gram pradhans (village heads), zila panchayat members, gram panchayat members, and local panchayat members.
The zila panchayat members who are directly elected by the public in turn elect the zila panchayat chairperson. So, the elections in rural India are a mix of direct and indirect democracy in the electoral sense.
This time, Uttar Pradesh will elect 8, 69,814 people’s representatives, with 826 block pramukh (block head) and 75 zila panchayat chairpersons. In addition, according to the state’s panchayati raj department, 7,31,813 gram panchayat members, 75,855 local panchayat members, 58,194 pradhan, and 3051 zila panchayat members will also be elected.
While the Election Commission of India hasn’t released any information, it is expected that the elections will be held in four phases. Also, sources told Gaon Connection that it is possible that this time, the voting for all the positions in a district will be held on the same day.
