Jaipur: The local self-govt (LSG) department has started preparations to conduct elections to all 190 urban local bodies across Rajasthan between Nov 15 and Dec 15, following state govt directives. This will be the first time that the state will hold all municipal elections simultaneously, and is part of a plan to implement the ‘one state, one election’ model.Confirming the development, state LSG minister Jhabar Singh Kharra told TOI that the state govt wants to form boards of all the urban local bodies (ULBs) by the end of the year. “To accomplish this, elections and the counting process of all ULBs must be over by Dec 15. It’s now up to the state election commission to fix the dates in phases,” Kharra said.In a review meeting held on Wednesday, the LSG minister oversaw discussions on the reorganisation and re-demarcation of urban bodies in Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Jaipur divisions. “We are conducting the delimitation process to make urban administration more effective, responsible and inclusive,” a department official said.The election timeline has several key phases. The delimitation process is scheduled to conclude by June, after which the department will revise the voter list and coordinate with the state election department to finalise poll dates. In Sept, district collectorates will hold lotteries to determine reservations for SC, ST, OBC and women candidates for both mayoral and councillor positions.Explaining the lottery system, a senior LSG official said, “This process will determine which mayoral posts will be reserved for specific categories and which will remain open for general candidates. It will also determine women’s reservations within both reserved and general categories, along with councillor quotas.”The comprehensive electoral exercise aims to streamline local governance while ensuring fair representation across all demographic segments. Political parties will be able to announce their candidates once the lottery process concludes in Sept.
