Panchayat poll delay puts BJP govt under court scrutiny in Rajasthan

Delays in conducting Rajasthan’s long-pending Panchayati Raj and urban local body elections have triggered a legal and political confrontation, with the Rajasthan High Court issuing a contempt notice to the State Election Commission (SEC) and its chief Rajeshwar Singh for failing to meet the court-mandated deadline of 15 April.

The high court had, in an order dated 14 November 2025, directed the state government to complete the delimitation process by the end of December 2025 and conduct elections by mid-April this year. The timeline was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, clearing the way for polls to be held on schedule. However, the SEC issued a revised programme for electoral roll revision extending beyond the deadline, effectively making it impossible to complete the elections within the court’s stipulated timeframe.

Taking note of the delay, the high court questioned how the Commission could release a voter list schedule that exceeded the timeline set by the court and sought an explanation from the SEC. The contempt proceedings were initiated following a petition by former Congress MLA Sanyam Lodha, one of the original petitioners in the case, who had earlier served a legal notice to both the state government and the Election Commission seeking alignment of the voter list revision process with the 15 April deadline.

According to the petitioners, the government has “illegally and arbitrarily” postponed elections to nearly 6,759 panchayats and 55 municipalities whose terms have already expired. The case involves elections to 14,403 panchayats, 457 panchayat samitis, 41 zila parishads, 10 municipal corporations, 45 municipal councils and 254 municipalities across the state.

During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner Puneet Singhvi argued that the SEC’s revised timeline — which pushes the publication of final electoral rolls to 22 April — ruled out any possibility of completing elections by the court-mandated deadline. The SEC, in its defence, maintained that the Panchayati Raj department had failed to finalise reservation lists for seats earmarked for women, OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, making it impossible to proceed with the election schedule.

The delay has largely been attributed to the pending report of the OBC Political Representation Commission, constituted to determine reservation quotas. Despite repeated extensions, the commission has not submitted its findings, leaving the government unable to finalise seat reservations required for the polls. The state government has now extended the commission’s tenure to 30 September, citing incomplete data and the need for further review.

Meanwhile, the Bhajan Lal Sharma government has repealed a provision dating back to 1993 that barred individuals with more than two children from contesting Panchayati Raj and local body elections. The earlier law, introduced during the tenure of former chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, was intended as a policy signal on population control. The repeal has drawn criticism from sections within the BJP, with some leaders describing the move as a poor tribute to Shekhawat’s legacy.

Critics allege that the delay in elections reflects political calculations rather than administrative constraints. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra accused the BJP government of deliberately postponing polls due to concerns about anti-incumbency.

“The whole process was stage-managed and a deliberate move to postpone the elections on one pretext or another. The electorate is unhappy with the BJP’s style of governance and the delays in key projects such as the East Rajasthan Canal Project and the Jal Jeevan Mission have led to shortages of drinking and irrigation water. The public mood is against the BJP government, and people are prepared to vote for Congress in the Panchayat and local body elections. That is why elections are being avoided despite judicial orders,” Dotasra said.

The BJP government, however, has maintained that it intends to synchronise rural and urban polls under a broader 'one state, one election' policy to reduce administrative costs and streamline governance. In the interim, several panchayat and municipal bodies have been dissolved and administrative officers appointed to run them, prompting former chief minister Ashok Gehlot to describe the delay as indicative of a “constitutional breakdown”.

The high court has emphasised that the central issue remains compliance with its earlier directive. With the deadline already breached and no election schedule in place, the court has now sought accountability from both the state government and the Election Commission for failing to adhere to the timeline endorsed by the Supreme Court.