Lucknow, Oct 14 The Congress and the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday welcomed the Allahabad High Court’s directive to hold panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh within three months, accusing the BJP government of delaying the polls due to a fear of defeat.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ said the court’s decision was an important step towards strengthening democracy and raised serious questions about the state government’s functioning, as the five-year term of panchayats had ended but elections had not been held.
She alleged that by postponing the elections and retaining outgoing village heads as administrators, the BJP government was affecting people’s democratic rights.
Mishra claimed the government feared that rural discontent against it would be reflected in the panchayat polls and could also have an impact on the 2027 Assembly elections.
She also expressed concern over the process of collecting data for reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), saying the High Court had questioned the adequacy of the exercise.
The Congress demanded that the panchayat elections be held within three months in accordance with the court’s directions, adequate and reliable data be collected for OBC reservation, and the constitutional rights of backward classes be protected.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand also accused the BJP of repeatedly postponing the elections due to fear of defeat.
He said the panchayat polls should have been held in May or June, but the government had continued to delay them until October.
“The BJP has been continuously postponing panchayat elections for fear of defeat,” Chand claimed, adding that the party respected the judiciary’s decision and would not comment on the court’s ruling.
He claimed the outcome of the panchayat elections would be similar to that of the Assembly polls and asserted that the BJP would lose both.
Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj minister OP Rajbhar welcomed the Allahabad High Court’s order and said, “We will give a detailed response when we see the full order.”
The High Court on Wednesday directed the State Election Commission to hold polls to Panchayati Raj institutions in Uttar Pradesh within three months.
The order was passed by a bench comprising Justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad.
The petitioner had moved the court seeking direction to the State Election Commission to place on record a detailed time-bound schedule for completion of the entire panchayat election process well before the expiry of the district panchayats’ tenure.
(PTI News)
