Congress Does Not Trust the Government
The Sunday Mail
Jodhpur. The BJP and Congress in Rajasthan have come face to face over the civic elections.
A war of words and accusations are ongoing between the two parties. To understand why these two parties are at loggerheads, we need to go back a little bit. Municipal elections are held for Panchayats and urban governments in Rajasthan. For a long time, these elections have been held on different dates for almost every civic body.
The election dates for different civic bodies in the state have varied from six months to two years. In fact, elections for different civic bodies continue for the entire five-year period, meaning there is no uniformity in civic elections anywhere in the state. Due to elections being held on different dates for different civic bodies, the tenure of the bodies also varies.
Due to this inequality in these elections, the mandate of the village and urban governments, i.e. public opinion, has never emerged because there is lack of uniformity in their tenures. Recently, with the aim of bringing uniformity in these elections, the Bhajan Lal government of the state decided to bring uniformity in all the bodies and resolved to conduct body elections on the same date in one state. In such a situation, administrators were appointed in those bodies whose tenure had ended so that after the end of the tenure of other bodies, elections of all could be conducted together. State BJP leaders described this decision of CM Bhajan Lal as an innovation regarding the bodies, as a symbol of his efficient political thinking and willpower. But the Congress leaders of the state are not liking this innovation at all. The Congress leaders of the state say that under the guise of this innovation, the BJP is deliberately postponing the elections due to the fear of losing in the civic bodies. Rajasthan Congress State President Govind Singh Dotasara has even claimed in one of his statements that the BJP state government will not conduct the civic body elections during its tenure because it is afraid of losing badly in the civic bodies, due to which it is using the excuse of one state one election.
Meanwhile, the concerned minister Jhabbar Singh Kharra is showing his commitment to conduct the civic body elections in December-25 or January-26, although the Congress is not showing any faith in his commitment.
Meanwhile, in a statement regarding the delay in local body elections,
f
ormer Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has stated that the Constitution is in danger due to the postponement of these elections. He says that elections are the most important basis of the democratic process and that postponing elections clearly indicates that democracy is in danger. If democracy is in danger, then the Constitution is automatically in danger.
Reacting to this argument, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat says that during his previous tenure, former Chief Minister Gehlot postponed the elections in Jodhpur, Jaipur, and Kota by a year to serve his political interests, but he did not see the Constitution as being in danger. Now, when the Chief Minister has decided to conduct elections in the public interest and the state with a new approach, he sees the Constitution as being in danger. Shekhawat questioned the professional morality of the opposition and said that the opposition is trying to provoke the public on issues that should be explained to them in the state’s interest. He also said that the public has not and will not be influenced by their provocations. However, it is an undeniable truth that even before the electoral battle for the survival of the local bodies, the ruling party and the opposition, i.e. BJP and Congress, have come face to face and a war of words has begun before the electoral battle. The people of the state and the political workers are eagerly waiting for the local bodies elections and since the government says that almost all the procedures related to the local bodies elections have been finalized, the patience of the people is also at its peak. Yes, it is certain that this time a clear mandate of the local governments will definitely emerge which will also influence the next assembly elections.
