Panchayat elections delayed: Chitrakoot village heads protest, demanding extension of their tenure

News Topical, Digital Desk : In view of the possibility of the Panchayat elections not being held on time, on Monday, after gathering in the district Panchayat premises, the village heads took to the streets demanding extension of the tenure of the Panchayats. They reached the Collectorate shouting slogans and while demonstrating, submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister to District Magistrate Pulkit Garg.

Under the leadership of Sunil Shukla, District President of All India Pradhan Sangathan, all the Pradhans of the district gathered at the District Panchayat premises on Monday. Here, everyone held a meeting and raised the demand for an extension of the Pradhans' tenure, given the possibility of elections not being held on time. After this, all the Pradhans, including District Panchayat President Ashok Jatav, Block Chief Manikpur Arvind Mishra, Pahadi Sushil Dwivedi, Karvi Gulab Singh, Ramnagar Gangadhar Mishra, etc., reached the Collectorate. Here, the Pradhans demonstrated with slogans and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister to the District Magistrate.

In a memorandum, District President Suneet Shukla stated that the three-tier Panchayat elections in the state are ending on May 26th and July 19th. Given the current situation, it seems practically impossible to conduct Panchayat elections within the stipulated timeframe. Delays in the revision of voter lists, the pending process of establishing a dedicated Backward Classes Commission, and the Supreme Court-mandated triple test are still incomplete. All these facts make it clear that holding elections without completing the necessary legal formalities would be neither justifiable nor permanently acceptable.

It was alleged that in such a situation, if administrators were appointed in place of elected Panchayats, it would be contrary to democratic values. Previously, complaints of lack of transparency, lack of accountability, and financial irregularities had surfaced in many places during the appointment of administrators. However, village heads and other Panchayat representatives are directly elected by the public. They are accountable to the people of their area and have a deep understanding of local problems and needs. They discharge their duties with greater transparency, sensitivity, and accountability.

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand also have examples of maintaining democratic continuity by entrusting elected representatives with the responsibility under similar circumstances. A memorandum has been submitted demanding that, given the current situation and the possibility of elections not being held on schedule, the tenure of elected representatives of the three-tier Panchayats be extended for the relevant period.

Karvi Block President Vishnukant Pandey, Pahadi Abhilash Patel, Ramnagar Pushpalata Singh, Manikpur Jagdish Patel, Mau Prabhat Pandey, Media Incharge Vipin Mishra, Meena Devi, Sadhna Singh, Chandan Singh, Ramanand, Raj Kumar, Ram Asare, Ram Babu, Deepshikha, Rajendra Singh, Bhim Pandey, Usha Singh, Indrajit, Urmila Devi, Ramnarayan, Anita Singh, Ramnath, Ramsharan Tripathi etc. were present in the demonstration.

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