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Jaipur, October 28 (IANS) Rajasthan Congress has accused the state government of deliberately delaying the municipal corporation and panchayati raj elections under the pretext of special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list.
Addressing a press conference at the state Congress headquarters in Jaipur, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara said that the actions of the BJP government clearly show that it intends to postpone elections in the state.
Dotasara said the SIR process is only for those states where Assembly, Panchayati Raj and Municipal Corporation elections are not scheduled. However, despite the pending local elections, the Election Commission has announced to conduct SIR in Rajasthan.
The Congress leader alleged that the government was using the “one state, one election” slogan as an excuse to stop the democratic process. The tenure of 49 municipal bodies ends in November 2024 and the tenure of 11,310 gram panchayats has already ended. Administrators have been appointed in all these bodies, yet the government has not started the election process.
He also said that while the deadline for delimitation was June 4, 2025 for Panchayati Raj institutions and May 22, 2025 for municipal bodies, ward notifications have been issued only for municipal corporation areas. Furthermore, the government has not provided any written communication to the State Election Commission expressing its intention to hold these elections.
He further said that the OBC Commission, which is required to provide reservation in local body elections as per the Supreme Court’s 2022 judgment, was constituted in April 2025 – months after the elections were to be held. The Commission lacks the funds, staff and authority to use BLOs for its surveys.
Dotasara said, “By holding the SIR, the BJP government has effectively ensured that no election process can begin before February 2026, as voter lists will remain frozen till then. After that, the budget session and delimitation work will further delay the elections till mid-2026.”
He also pointed out that the BJP’s steps – from delaying delimitation to weakening the OBC Commission – are part of a larger plan to manipulate the voter list and postpone the elections.
“This is an attack on democracy and a betrayal of people’s right to vote,” he said.
–IANS
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