Gehlot criticises downgrading of 12 municipalities to gram panchayats
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has criticised the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government for putting the state on a retrograde path of development.
The Opposition Congress, unhappy over the delay in the elections for the civic bodies and panchayats, is exploring the legal option to ensure adherence to the law and the constitution by the reluctant BJP-led government.
Talking to the media on Tuesday, state Congress President Govind Singh Dotasara said, “As per constitutional provisions, the elections to the municipal bodies and panchayats can not be deferred. The state government is supposed to hold the polls through the state election commission within five years and delimitation of constituencies (wards) should be done six months before the due date.”
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However, the state government is keen to defer the polls on the pretext of “One Nation, One Election, even as the term of a large number of gram panchayats has already expired while that of many other panchayats and civic bodies is due to expire by the year-end, the Congress leader said.
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He said the government has hinted at holding the elections by the year-end and has appointed administrators to the sarpanchs whose term has already expired. However, neither the polls can be deferred, nor can the ex- sarpanchs be given the charge of the administrator, he quipped.
Meanwhile, a delayed drill of delimitation too is being conducted, not by the cabinet committee but a team of BJP leaders who are allegedly forcing the officials engaged in the process to take diktats from them, in defiance of law and constitutional probity.
“We tried to make a submission before the state election commission but to no avail, as the poll body is inactive,” Dotasara lamented.
“Now, we are exploring the option of seeking the intervention of the high court or the Supreme Court,” he said.
On the party’s organisational front, the PCC chief hinted at overhauling in the state and district committees of the party soon, saying disloyal and idle members would be rested to give new faces a chance to prove themselves.
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