Election of "Chairperson" and "Vice-Chairperson".

(1) For every Zilla Praja Parishad there shall be one "Chairperson" and one "Vice-Chairperson" who shall be elected by and from among the elected members specified in clause (i) of sub-section (3) of section 172 by show of hands duly obeying the party whip given by such functionary of the recognized political party as may be prescribed. If at an election held for the purpose, no "Chairperson" or "Vice-Chairperson" is elected fresh election shall be held. The names of the "Chairperson" and "Vice-Chairperson" so elected shall be published in the prescribed manner:

Provided that if a Member of the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council of the State or of either House of Parliament is elected to either of the said offices, he shall cease to hold such office unless within fifteen days from the date of election to such office he ceases to be Member of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of the State or of either House of Parliament by resignation or otherwise:

Provided further that a member voting under this sub-section in disobedience of the party whip shall cease to hold office in the manner prescribed and the vacancy caused by such cessation shall be filled as a casual vacancy.

(2) The offices of Chairperson of Zilla Praja Parishad in the State shall be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Women, by notification, in the manner specified below.

(3) Out of the total number of offices of Chairperson in the State, the Commissioner, shall determine in the first instance the number of offices of Chairpersons of Zilla Praja Parishads to be reserved in the State for the members belonging to Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes, subject to the condition that the number of offices so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of offices to be filled in the State as the population of the Scheduled Tribes, or as the case may be, the Scheduled Castes in the State bears to the total population of the State.

(4) The Commissioner, shall reserve 34% (thirty four percent) of the offices of Chairperson of Zilla Praja Parishads in the State, to the members belonging to Backward Classes.

(5) The Commissioner shall reserve one-half of the number of offices of Chairperson reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and one-half of the unreserved offices for women in the State.

(6) (a) The Commissioner, shall on determining the number under sub-section (3) in respect of the State, reserve offices of Chairpersons and allot to the Scheduled Tribes in the first instance where the proportion of the population of Scheduled Tribes of the District to the total population of the district is the highest in the descending order;

(b) after excluding the offices of Chairperson reserved for Scheduled Tribes, the Commissioner shall reserve from among the remaining offices for the Scheduled Castes determined under sub-section (3) where the proportion of the population of the Scheduled Castes of the District to the total population of the district is the highest in the descending order;

(c) after excluding the offices of Chairperson reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, the Commissioner shall reserve from among the remaining offices for the Backward Classes determined under sub-section (4) where the proportion of voters of Backward Classes of the District to the total voters in the district is the highest in the descending order;

(d) the Commissioner, shall reserve offices of Chairpersons for Women determined under sub-section (5), from out of the reserved and unreserved categories on the basis of draw of lots.

(7) (a) The reservation of offices of Chairperson for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Women shall be by rotation commencing from the first ordinary election held under this Act. The offices of Chairperson of Zilla Praja Parishads reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes during the earlier ordinary elections shall not be reserved for the same categories till a cycle of reservation in that category is completed:

Provided such rotation shall be effected after completion of two consecutive terms;

(b) candidates elected from any of the Territorial Constituencies shall be eligible to contest for the office of the Chairperson, Zilla Praja Parishad, provided such candidate belongs to the same category for which the office is reserved and though not elected from a reserved Territorial constituency;

(c) if a new Zilla Praja Parishad is formed after ordinary general elections to Zilla Praja Parishads, to determine the category of reservation to that Zilla Praja Parishad, the proportionate reservation as provided from sub-sections (3) to (6) shall be worked out taking the new Zilla Praja Parishad into consideration. If this new worked out reservation results in a clear additional seat for any one category, the Zilla Praja Parishad newly created shall be allotted to that category. If it does not result in additional seat, then the reservation for the newly created Zilla Praja Parishad shall be decided on the basis of draw of lots.

Note: When there is a competition for one office between two or more categories, the category which is becoming eligible for such reservation in its earlier cycle gets precedence over others. e.g. In case where there is a tie between Backward Classes category and another category and if the Backward Classes category is in first cycle and the other category is in second cycle, the Backward Classes category will get precedence over the other category, being in the earlier cycle than the latter;

(d) for allotting the offices by rotation, Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Tribe (women), Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Caste (women), Backward Classes, Backward Classes (women), Unreserved and Unreserved (women) shall be treated as separate categories:

Provided that, such of those offices which could not be reserved in the first and second cycle though they were eligible in the descending order but were allotted to the other categories due to order of preference in allotment as per descending order or proportionate population, in those categories shall be allotted first before going to the offices in the second cycle;

(e) those offices, which lost their reservation as a result of repeating the reservation second time in that cycle, should be reserved in the ensuing elections in those districts or wherever applicable.

Explanation:- Fraction will be rounded off in descending order only to the extent required to arrive at actual number as per percentage, for the purpose of this section.

(8) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent women and the members of the Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes from standing for election to the unreserved offices.

(9) The first meeting of the Zilla Praja Parishad to elect a "Chairperson" and "Vice-Chairperson" shall be called as soon as may be, after the results of the ordinary elections to the office of elected members of the Zilla Praja Parishad have been published. The notice of the date and time of the meeting for the election of "Chairperson" and "Vice-Chairperson" shall be given to the elected members in the prescribed manner:

Provided that if, for any reason, the election of the "Chairperson" or "Vice-Chairperson" is not held on the date fixed as aforesaid, the meeting for the election of the "Chairperson" and "Vice-Chairperson" shall be held on the next day, whether or not it is a holiday observed by the Zilla Praja Parishad.

(10) Every "Chairperson" or "Vice-Chairperson" shall cease to hold office on cessation as an elected member.

(11) Save as otherwise expressly provided in, or prescribed under this Act, the term of office of the "Chairperson" or "Vice-Chairperson" who is elected at an ordinary election shall be five years from the date appointed by the State Election Commission for the first meeting of the Zilla Praja Parishad after the ordinary election.

(12) Any casual vacancy in the office of the "Chairperson" or "Vice-Chairperson" shall be filled within a period of six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy by a fresh election under sub-section (9) and a person elected as "Chairperson" or "Vice-Chairperson" in any such vacancy shall hold office only so long as the person in whose place he is elected would have been entitled to hold office if the vacancy had not occurred.