Jaipur: The Congress Friday welcomed the Rajasthan High Court’s direction to the state govt and the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct panchayat and urban local body elections by July 31, with senior party functionaries accusing the state’s BJP govt of deliberately delaying the democratic process for nearly two years.Reacting to the court order, Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra described the verdict as a “resounding slap on those who padlocked democracy”, alleging that the BJP govt repeatedly postponed elections on various pretexts to avoid facing the people.Dotasra said the BJP govt cited reasons such as “One State-One Election”, pending OBC reservation reports, shortage of staff, weather conditions and the academic session to defer the polls.He alleged that despite an earlier court direction issued on Nov 14, 2025, to complete elections by April 15, 2026, the state govt “deliberately ignored” the order.“The truth is that the BJP fears the people’s mandate. That is why elected local govts were dissolved and power handed over to bureaucrats,” Dotasra said, adding that postponing elections for such a prolonged period weakened democratic institutions and the spirit of the Constitution.Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully also welcomed the HC order, terming it a “historic victory for democracy” and a setback for what he called the BJP’s “anti-democracy mindset”.Jully alleged that the BJP govt failed to deliver development over the past two-and-a-half years and was now “afraid” of facing voters in villages and towns. “The govt wanted to postpone elections to hide its failures, but the court’s intervention has foiled those intentions,” he said.Jully further claimed that the opposition party consistently raised the issue “from the streets to the Assembly”, accusing the BJP of suppressing democratic rights by delaying panchayat and urban local body elections. He said Congress workers would now take the issue to the people and expose the govt’s “anti-people policies”.AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot also welcomed the court ruling and said timely elections were a fundamental principle of democracy. He said the prolonged absence of elected representatives caused hardships to the public and expressed hope that the state govt would comply with the court’s directions without further delay.
