Uttarakhand election commissioner Subardhan created difficult situation for the Trivendra Rawat government by accusing the state government of causing unnecessary delay in local body election.

He addressed a high voltage press conference in Dehradun on Wednesday to push the Uttarakhand government on the back foot. The state election commissioner claimed that he is seeking an appointment with the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat since July 2017, which he has failed to materialize so far.

The allegation made by state election commissioner took the Trivender Rawat government and cabinet minister Madan Kausik said, “I spoke to the state election commissioner three days back and asked him for attending a meeting. He remained absent from the meeting. The intention of both state election commission and state government is same- to host the local body elections on time. We will be declaring the date possibly by Wednesday.”

State election commissioner claimed that the state government has not completed the delimitation and reservation of seats works. Besides claiming that he spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat about discussing vital issues related to local body elections, Subardhan narrates, “The Chief Minister said on July 2017, we will discuss it on Monday. The Monday never came. After that I spoke to CM’s personnel assistant Suresh Joshi and also with Secretary Radhika Jha. On advice from Radhika Jha, I sought an appointment with the CM in writing on 15 September last year. Still the meeting failed to materialize.”

The State Election Commission asked the state government to provide Rs 17 Crore for purchasing EVMs and VVPATs and have received no funds so far. The Congress party has constantly accused BJP of causing delay in local body election.

They even charged that public is now against BJP for its bad policies and fearing defeat the Rawat government is fearful of hosting the polls. The press conference witnessed Subardhan accusing no cooperation from state government and also hinting that in the present situation the local body elections are slated to be delayed. The term of the local bodies are concluding on 4 May and the poll process should conclude by April end.

The Congress has made the allegation of state election commissioner a issue. Ex-Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said, “It is sad that a head of a constitutional body sought time from CM and minister for conducting election of Nagar Palika and Nagar Nigam on time. They ask for funds for buying EVM and VVPAT. No money is provided and efforts are made to delay the polls by making various excuses.”