Jaipur : Rajasthan Government’s announcement of One State One Election has stalled the elections to be held in 6759 Gram Panchayats in the month of January next year. The tenure of these Gram Panchayats is ending in January. The government is considering appointing administrators in these gram panchayats. Actually, the government wants to conduct local body and panchayat elections simultaneously under the One State One Election formula. In such a situation, administrators can be appointed in Gram Panchayats whose tenure is about to end.
However, it is also interesting that for Panchayat Raj institutions, there is a provision in the 73rd Constitutional Amendment that their tenure can neither be reduced nor extended. At the same time, administrators also cannot be appointed for more than 6 months. If the tenure of the administrators is extended, then the state government will have to call a special session of the assembly and pass a resolution and send it to the central government. In such a situation, the announcement of One State One Election formula is becoming a trap for the government too.
Sarpanchs urge movement not to appoint administrator
In the Panchayats whose tenure is expiring, a demand has been made to the State Government to extend the tenure of the Sarpanches instead of the Administrator. Last month, Sarpanch Sangh had demanded from several officials including Panchayat Raj Minister Madan Dilawar to extend the tenure of Sarpanches on the lines of Madhya Pradesh formula. For this, a request movement is also being run across the state.
Committee will test
There are 11310 gram panchayats in the state. The tenure of 6759 Gram Panchayats is ending in January 2025, 704 Gram Panchayats in March 2025 and 3847 Gram Panchayats in September 2025. Last time, elections were held in these Gram Panchayats in four phases. This time the challenge before the government is how to conduct elections in these Gram Panchayats. It is noteworthy that in the budget session of the Assembly, while announcing One State One Election, the government had also announced the formation of a committee which will examine how to conduct elections of Panchayats and civic bodies simultaneously. Administrators in Gram Panchayats for more than 6 months. If it cannot be imposed, if the tenure is extended then a special session of the Assembly will have to be called and the proposal passed.
