The Rajasthan government has approached the Rajasthan High Court to postpone panchayat elections beyond April 15 due to incomplete OBC survey and voter list mismatches. The Court will now decide if these administrative hurdles justify delaying local body elections.
The Rajasthan High Court is set to hear a crucial plea filed by the Rajasthan government seeking more time to conduct the upcoming panchayat elections. The State has requested the Court to extend the earlier deadline of April 15, 2026, citing serious administrative and legal difficulties in completing key pre-election processes.
This request comes after previous directions issued by the High Court in response to Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by Sanyam Lodha and Girraj Devanda. These petitions had raised concerns about the delay in conducting local body elections and pushed for a fixed timeline.
In its latest application, the State government has explained in detail why it is currently unable to meet the Court-mandated deadline. The plea was submitted through Advocate General Rajendra, who highlighted multiple ongoing issues affecting the election process.
Urban Development and Housing Minister Jhabar Singh Kharra clarified the situation and pointed out two major challenges. The first issue relates to the OBC reservation process, which requires a proper survey by the OBC Commission before elections can be conducted.
According to the Minister, the first phase of the survey conducted by the Commission found several problems and inaccuracies. Because of these “flaws,” district collectors have been instructed to carry out a fresh survey in many areas to ensure correct data.
He stated,
“The second round of the survey and finalizing the report will take at least two to three months,”
making it clear that elections cannot proceed without completing this mandatory exercise in a legally valid manner.
The second major issue raised by the government concerns discrepancies in voter lists. During a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, authorities discovered mismatches between the electoral rolls maintained by the State Election Commission and updated voter data.
Explaining the seriousness of the issue, the Minister said that several names present in the State Election Commission’s list were missing from the revised SIR list.
He warned,
“This would be illegal if we allowed those people to vote,”
highlighting the legal risks involved if elections are conducted without correcting these errors. He further added,
“Hence, we need to revise our roles further, which is also a time-consuming process.”
The State government has argued that conducting elections without resolving these issues could lead to legal challenges and undermine the fairness of the electoral process.
The High Court will now examine whether these reasons—related to the OBC survey and electoral roll corrections—are sufficient to justify postponing the democratic exercise at the grassroots level. The Court’s decision will play a key role in determining when Rajasthan’s long-pending panchayat elections will finally take place.
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