JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Monday accepted the state government’s road map for conducting the long-pending urban local body (ULB) and panchayati raj elections.
While making it clear that no further extension would be granted if the proposed timeline was not adhered to, the court warned that responsibility would be fixed on the officials concerned in case of any delay.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit was hearing a bunch of petitions, including those filed by former MLA Sanyam Lodha and Girraj Singh Devenda, seeking timely elections to local bodies. During the previous hearing, the court had directed the government to place a definite election schedule on record.
On Monday, advocate general Rajendra Prasad submitted an affidavit along with the minutes of a high-level meeting chaired by the chief secretary on Sunday. According to the affidavit, the state OBC commission will submit its report on political reservation by August 5.
Based on the report, the Local Self Government Department and the Panchayati Raj Department will complete the reservation lottery process by August 15, following which the state election commission will conduct the polls. The government assured the court that the entire election process would be completed by November 15.
The state poll panel has proposed a two-phase schedule for ULB elections, with polling for ward members on September 6 and 9. Elections for chairperson posts are proposed for September 19. For the panchayati raj institutions, polling for panch, sarpanch, panchayat samiti and zila parishad members has been proposed in four phases between October 13 and November 5.
While accepting the road map, the high court made it clear that no further extension would be granted.