Rajasthan Panchayat Election: Polling Continues Amid Boycotts
Jaipur, October 22: Rajasthan's first-phase panchayati raj elections are underway across 16 zila parishads and 104 panchayat samitis. Even as voting continues, residents of a number of villages in Jodhpur, Pali and Kota have boycotted the polls over local administrative and reservation disputes. Some booths also saw brief interruptions due to technical faults.
Preliminary voter turnout figures show Bikaner leading in participation, while Udaipur has the lowest turnout so far.
In Pali, residents of Duthariya village in Rani panchayat samiti and Nepawas village in Sojat panchayat samiti have decided not to vote. Duthariya villagers are agitating against their inclusion in Indra Medatiyan after the recent delimitation exercise. They say their village has no direct road access and that they must travel around 9 kilometres along a twisting route through forest land to reach the neighbouring village. They are asking for either a standalone gram panchayat or a return to Bhadarlau.
Nepawas residents, for their part, are objecting to being moved from Ward 1 to Ward 3 of Sojat panchayat samiti. The administration has opened discussions with them to address the concern.
In Jodhpur district's Shergarh constituency, Mangal Singh Nagar gram panchayat voters have boycotted the sarpanch contest to protest OBC reservation for the post. Villagers contend that none of the 1,052 registered voters in the panchayat come from the OBC category. Tehsildar, SDM Vikrant Sharma and MLA Babu Singh Rathore have travelled to the village to encourage participation.
In Kota's Itawa area, residents of Chak-Toda Todikhedli village under Sinota gram panchayat have also refused to vote. Krishna Meena, a villager, said the settlement once belonged to Dhipri Chambal gram panchayat but was later transferred to Sinota, roughly 11 kilometres away. The distance and forest terrain, he said, make the journey especially hard for older residents. The demand is for the village to be restored to Dhipri Chambal.
Technical snags also affected voting at several places. Polling at Kuradia Khurd booth in Sangod panchayat samiti was paused for about 15 minutes after an EVM developed a fault, resuming only after a replacement machine was installed. In Pali, booth 2 of Bagdi Nagar nagar panchayat saw nearly an hour's delay because of an EVM problem. Returning Officer Bhagirath Choudhary arranged a second machine, and voting restarted.
In Bikaner, a voter at booth 19 of Adoori gram panchayat suddenly fell ill while standing in the queue and collapsed. In Barmer, after the death of a Congress candidate from ward 8 of Mangta panchayat samiti, the returning officer displayed a public notice at the polling booth confirming that the candidate's name and symbol had been removed from the EVM.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Premchand Bairwa cast his vote at booth number 92 in Shrinivaspura village under Mauzamabad panchayat samiti, Jaipur. His wife, son and daughter accompanied him, and he took a selfie at the designated selfie point.
A total of 85,07,306 voters are eligible to elect representatives to zila parishads and panchayat samitis, with 6,926 candidates in the field. The BJP and the Congress are the main contenders, while the RLP, BAP and independents are playing an important role in several constituencies. Voting goes on amid local protests, administrative negotiations and minor technical disruptions.