Jaipur: A day after the Rajasthan High Court reprimanded the State Election Commission (SEC) for the delay in panchayat and urban local body elections, SEC Commissioner Rajeshwar Singh Friday put the onus for timely polls squarely on the state govt, saying the SEC can issue the schedule only after category-wise reservations are finalised.In his statement, the SEC outlined three key points addressed during a virtual court appearance Thursday. Singh said the power to determine SC, ST, OBC and women’s reservations rests with the state govt, not the SEC, and that the call to proceed without OBC reservation—if the OBC Commission report remains pending—also lies solely with the govt. He said once the govt finalises the reservations, the SEC would announce the election schedule within two days.“Thereafter, the entire proceedings before the high court remained focused on the OBC Commission and the state govt,” Singh said. “Now, on July 20, everyone has to present their action plans before the court. This alone is the truth and fact.”A day earlier, hearing a contempt of court petition moved by former MLA Sanyam Lodha over the delay in local bodies’ elections, the high court directed the SEC to submit a formal election schedule at the next hearing on July 20. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit expressed dissatisfaction over the delay, asserting administrative bottlenecks cannot dilute judicial directions.Even as the court tightened timelines, the state govt indicated polls may be pushed far beyond the court’s deadline. Local Self Govt (LSG) minister Jhabar Singh Kharra told TOI Friday that elections were unlikely before Sept 2026, citing the pending OBC Commission report being prepared under the Supreme Court-mandated triple-test formula and expected only next month.“We have to wait till the report (by OBC Commission). The Supreme Court has enforced a strict ‘Triple Test Formula’ for granting OBC quota in local body elections. All formalities of the LSG department related to the polls are already completed,” Kharra said.In its interim order passed Thursday, the division bench remarked, “It is a very sorry state of affairs that in spite of our directions issued from time to time, the details are not being provided to the SEC for conducting the elections.” The bench added, “We hope and expect from the authorities to give us the exact time schedule wherein the date of completion of OBC Commission, the date of conducting the lottery for reservations and the date of elections shall be provided on the next date of hearing (July 20).”Commenting on the statements of SEC Commissioner Singh and minister Kharra, petitioner Lodha said, “The developments suggest a coordinated attempt to delay the elections, and the full picture is likely to emerge during the next court hearing on July 20.”
