Everything You Need to Know about U.P. Elections

 

Introduction:

Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state in India. Population of Uttar Pradesh is more than 166 million.

Election to legislative assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh is held every five years and conducted by Election commission of India, whereas the election to local bodies of Uttar Pradesh is conducted by the Election Commission of Uttar Pradesh.

In Uttar Pradesh there are 80 parliamentary constituencies and 403 legislative assembly constituencies. The state has seen 17 Vidhan Sabha elections and 16 Lok Sabha elections since independence.

Current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh:

Ruling party of Uttar Pradesh is Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and chief minister is Mr. Yogi Adityanath.

Election was held in Feb 2017 and Bharatiya Janta Party won the election with 312 seats.

Keshav Prasad Maurya is Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Judiciary System of Uttar Pradesh:

Law and liberty are the university recognized basic hallmark of free society. It is commonly felt that without Law there could be no Order and without Order there could be no Peace and without peace no Prosperity. 

Law is, therefore, an instrument for maintaining order and peace, for providing progress and prosperity and for securing justice, which is essential for ensuring human dignity and liberty.

High court of Uttar Pradesh is Allahabad High court. Justice Sanjay Yadav is the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.

Vidhan Sabha Elections:

Uttar Pradesh has 403 assembly constituencies. The Chief Minister of the state is elected by legislators of the political party or coalition commanding an assembly majority, and serves a five-year term with a provision of re-election. 

The Governor is the head of the state, but his or her role is largely ceremonial.

Who Conduct Election in Uttar Pradesh?

After independence, the importance of establishing and developing Local self-government in rural areas was realized and the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 was promulgated to fulfill this objective. 

Consequently Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat in every village or for a group of villages were established throughout the state. 

The Constitution of India as enforced on January 26, 1950 provides that "The State shall take steps to organize village Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of local self-government".

Article 243K of the Constitution of India states that:

"The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Panchayats shall be vested in a State Election Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner to be appointed by the Governor".

The Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission was constituted by the State Government for the first time on April, 23rd, 1994.

The functioning of the Panchayat Raj Bodies is governed by two separate acts, one for Gram Panchayats and the other for the Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats. 

According to section 12BB of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, the superintendence, direction and control to conduct the election to the office of Pradhan and Member of a Gram Panchayat is vested in the State Election Commission. 

Under Section 12 BB, subject to the supervision and control of the State Election Commission, the District Magistrate supervises the conduct of all elections of the Pradhans and the Members of the Gram Panchayats in the districts. 

Similarly, according to section 264-B of the U.P. Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961, the superintendence.

The electoral rolls are prepared according to the rules under the provisions of related Acts, guidelines and instructions given by the State Election Commission. There are specific provisions to this effect under section 9 of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947.

Likewise section 12A to 12G of the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 deals with the preparation of electoral rolls of Nagar Palika Parishads and Nagar Panchayats. The U.P. Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 deals with the preparation of electoral rolls of the Municipal Corporation.

Written by: Gopal Prasad

Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury