JAIPUR: Panchayat polls in Rajasthan may still be several weeks away, but political tensions have already intensified, with the Congress accusing the BJP government of misusing official machinery to gather information on prospective candidates.
The controversy erupted after Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully shared purported images of a letter seeking details of prospective candidates and questioned the government's reasons for collecting the information.
“Why do you need these details? Is this government work? Will you file cases against them, issue notices, conduct raids or arrest them so that they cannot file their nomination papers?” Jully asked.
Jully alleged that officers in the Chief Minister's Office were implementing the directions and urged the Election Commission to investigate the issue. He also accused the BJP of fearing defeat and said voters would resist attempts to intimidate candidates.
Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara also targeted Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, alleging that an official in the CMO was getting the order issued at his behest.
“The state’s government machinery is not your party’s election office, tasked with monitoring potential candidates for a specific party and reporting on them,” Dotasara said.
Demanding a public explanation, he questioned the rule under which collectors were allegedly being asked to provide names of prospective zila pramukhs, pradhans, zila parishad members and panchayat samiti members.
“There must be an immediate investigation to clarify who requested the list, for what purpose, where the information was to be sent and how it was to be used,” he said.
Dotasara alleged that the information would be used to target Congress candidates through old cases, notices and false complaints to prevent them from contesting. He also accused the police and administration of abducting Congress and independent councillors during the civic polls.
BJP state president Madan Rathore dismissed the allegations.
“The Congress is making a futile attempt to spread confusion by relying on lies.We have our own network, and we are sending our surveyors,” he said.
Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham attributed the allegations to frustration over the BJP's civic poll victory.
“If the administrative machinery had been misused, how could the Congress have won 91 municipal bodies?” he asked.
The Panchayat poll schedule, which was expected on Wednesday, remained unannounced. The Rajasthan High Court has directed completion of the election process by November 15. With the festive season approaching, the delay has raised concerns over whether the polls can meet the court's deadline.