Madhya Pradesh’s state election commission has cancelled panchayat elections.
The State Elections Commission has cancelled panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh. Secretary BS Jamod informed ANI that the elections were scheduled in three phases on January 6, January 28 and February 16.
Madhya Pradesh: State Elections Commission (SEC), canceled panchayat polls which were slated to be held in three phases on January 6, 28 and February 16: SEC Secretary BS Jamod pic.twitter.com/N0YBHJdJLe
— ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2021
The poll cancellation paved the way after the withdrawal of delimitation and reservation rotation.
The BJP government brought an ordinance in November, seeking an annulment of the process of delimitation and reservation rotation. This was set by the previous Congress-led government in 2019. Two days after the state cabinet decided to withdraw the ordinance, the SEC decided to cancel the panchayat polls.
Based on this ordinance, the panchayat election process started as per the delimitation and reservation rotation of 2014.”After the Supreme Court’s decision, the state cabinet has decided to request the governor to withdraw this ordinance,” MP Panchayat Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodiya told reporters.
The minister had accused the Congress opposition of repeatedly taking the matter of delimitation and reservation rotation to the High Court and Supreme Court. He stated, “Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is committed to providing reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).”
The MP assembly unanimously passed a resolution that no panchayat polls will be held in the state without a reservation for the OBCs. The chief minister suggested the resolution and stated that the state government wants every section of society to get justice.
The President of the Bhopal jila panchayat, Manmohan Nagar, pleaded in the apex court that the BJP government violated the constitutional provisions on reservation rotation and delimitation for the panchayat polls. This resulted in the Supreme Court staying the poll process on seats reserved for OBCs in the panchayat elections and re-notifying these seats for the general category in Madhya Pradesh. The number
of seats reserved before SC’s order
Before the order of the SC, a total of 155 posts of members of jila panchayats, 1,273 members of janpad panchayats, 4,058 sarpanchs, and 64,353 posts of panches were reserved for OBCs during this election process. The SEC postponed the elections a day after the SC’s order.