Jaipur: Allowing a non-elected person to become chairperson of a municipality is difficult to reconcile with representative local govt, former secretary general of Lok Sabha and constitutional expert PDT Achary has said, even as he told TOI the Constitution leaves the legal framework for electing municipal chairpersons to state legislatures.In Rajasthan, a person need not be an elected councillor to contest for the post of municipal chairperson. The provision, part of the state’s municipal election rules since 2019, allows a non-councillor — including someone who did not contest or lost a ward election — to enter the race. The chairperson is then elected indirectly by elected municipal members.The provision was introduced through the Rajasthan Municipalities (Election) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2019, notified in Oct 2019. The amendment substituted Rule 78 of the Rajasthan Municipalities (Election) Rules, 1994, and changed the eligibility framework for election of a chairperson.“The Constitution does not specifically prescribe the procedure for electing the chairperson of a municipal body and has left the matter to the state legislatures. However, this does not mean that a non-elected person can become the chairperson,” Achary said. He said the then state govt took advantage of this omission from the Constitution.Achary said the established understanding was that elected members choose the leadership of the body from among themselves.“It is difficult to understand how a non-elected person can become the chairperson of a municipal body. Elected members alone have the prerogative to elect the chairperson of a municipal body, and ordinarily the chairperson should be an elected member,” Achary said.He said nominated members, where provided for, are distinct from elected representatives and may be included for special knowledge or experience in municipal administration.“Voting rights are given to only elected members and not to nominated members. The Constitution allows only the nomination of people with special knowledge about municipal administration. It is not meant to artificially inflate the strength of the municipality,” he said.Achary also flagged a practical anomaly.“The fact that he is not an elected member, he will not have voting rights. However, as a chairperson he/she will have certain executive and authoritative powers,” he said.Rajasthan’s rules provide the statutory basis for the hybrid system, under which eligibility to contest the chairperson’s election is not confined to elected councillors, though the chairperson is elected by municipal members.
