Overview
- State Election Commissioner Anil Kumar Khachi submitted a sealed report to Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on the status of the panchayat polls.
- The SEC invoked Clause 12.1 of the Model Code of Conduct to freeze delimitation after recent municipal boundary notifications in Nadaun and Una.
- Senior bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta, told the SEC that polls cannot be conducted before January 30 due to disrupted connectivity.
- A prior October 9 order under the Disaster Management Act tied election timing to restoration of road access, even as ministers have publicly said the polls will be held on schedule.
- The High Court has sought responses for a December 22 hearing, the government said the election process would start by January 21, and district officials were told to keep preparations going while the state seeks delimitation permission from the SEC.