Panchayat delimitation faces delays amid political pressure
Jaipur: The Rajasthan govt has failed to meet its June 4 deadline for finalising the list of gram panchayats and panchayat samitis following the delimitation process, throwing the state's electoral timeline into uncertainty.
The Panchayati Raj department, which received 3,000 proposals for new gram panchayats and 115 for panchayat samitis, is struggling to complete the reorganisation process due to intense political pressure and local interference. This delay has cast doubt on the implementation of the 'One State, One Election' initiative, with both panchayat and municipal polls scheduled for later this year.
A senior official from the panchayati raj department, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the situation as "tumultuous," citing frequent political intervention when attempting to follow established population norms for panchayat body formation.
"For instance, proposals are being pushed for creating panchayats in areas with insufficient population and inadequate distances, and when we try to correct this, we face pressure from above," the official said.
Earlier, PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra accused RSS and BJP of running a parallel delimitation process and pressuring officials for political gain. He specifically named Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari, former BJP state president Arun Chaturvedi and ex-minister Rajendra Rathore as key figures allegedly influencing district officials involved in the delimitation process.
Talking to TOI Thursday, opposition leader Tikaram Jully criticised the state govt's handling of the situation and said, "They have murdered democracy in the state." He pointed out that even the Chief Minister's home district of Bharatpur has not held Zila Pramukh elections for one-and-a-half years now.
The Rajasthan High Court had also sought the govt's response regarding the postponement of elections in over 6,000 gram panchayats and the appointment of sarpanchs as administrators. Currently, Rajasthan has 11,253 gram panchayats and 352 panchayat samitis.
Attempts to reach panchayati raj minister Madan Dilawar for a comment were unsuccessful despite repeated phone calls.
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