13,241 panchayats in state may go to polls on Oct 13

The elections to the 13,241 panchayats in the state are likely to be held on October 13. With the schedule to be announced within two days, the civil administration and spin doctors of the ruling party have gotten into play to decide on the seats to be reserved for sarpanches.

Logic behind timing

Paddy harvesting will begin in the state in mid-October, engaging most of the villagers in harvesting operations. So, it is proposed to hold the panchayat elections on October 13 before the harvesting peaks, and after the state politicians get a breather from the Haryana poll to be held on October 5.

Though the notification for holding the panchayat elections before October 20 was issued late last night, top administrative officials in all districts are presently in the process of deciding on which villages will have general, women or Scheduled Caste sarpanches, albeit with a little prompting by local politicians, especially those of the ruling party.

State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary has reportedly also called a meeting of all deputy commissioners in the state on Saturday, to assess preparedness for the poll. The notification of the reservation roster is to be done by the DCs at the earliest.

An officer posted as a deputy commissioner in the Malwa region said there was no change in wardbandi, which remains the same as in 2018 panchayat poll.

Another administrative head of a district in Majha told The Tribune that the reservation roster should be ready by Saturday. “We are giving it a final shape,” he said. Another DC said there were clear instructions that if 90 per cent population in a block was general, it could not be reserved for SC sarpanch and vice versa.

Since the AAP government has amended the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, to empower itself to change the reservation roster, taking block as a unit, there will be changes in villages that will get SC sarpanches. It may be mentioned that during the previous panchayat elections in 2018, the district was taken as a unit to reserve seats for sarpanches.

The reservation for sarpanches is being done by taking into account the census report of 2011. The Congress, during its regime between 2017 and 2022, had reserved 50 per cent wards for women. The same practice will continue now as well. This reservation for women will be in both reserved and general seats for sarpanches.

It is only after the roster for reservation has been finalised by the district administration that the poll process will be rolled out, within the next two days. The schedule for the elections will be announced, voter list and supplementary lists prepared and ballot papers readied by the State Election Commission.