HP PANCHAYAT ELECTION NOW A DIRECT POWER CLASH.
Shimla, November 25: The upcoming Panchayat elections in Himachal have turned into a constitutional power clash. CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and State Election Commissioner Anil Khachi are on a head-on collision course.
The Sukhu Cabinet has cleared delimitation and restructuring of all 3577 gram panchayats, while the Election Commission has already notified the government to conduct polls on existing boundaries and has started the process. Ballot papers are printed, district officers have begun lifting election material and the Commission has frozen all changes under Model Code rule 12.1.
Khachi has already met the Governor to underline that there will be no tampering with boundaries or roster once the election cycle has begun.
Elections to panchayats are not held on party symbols, yet after results both BJP and Congress aggressively stake claim to prove who has people’s mandate.
This time, BJP is already attacking the Congress government, accusing it of trying to delay polls. The government’s argument that many panchayats lack road connectivity is being mocked by the Opposition, which asks whether earlier elections were held only in road-connected panchayats. The accusation is straightforward: the government is running away from elections.
If delimitation proceeds now, elections could be delayed by four to six months, which Khachi has already warned. The Panchayati Raj term ends on January 31, 2026, making timely elections a constitutional mandate.
The Cabinet decision places the government in open conflict with the Commission, which is bound to reject any mid-process delimitation. The confrontation is now heading toward a legal and constitutional showdown with grassroots democracy stuck between the two power centres.
For now, the Panchayat elections in Himachal are no longer only about polling — they have become a battle of authority between the elected government and the constitutional Election Commission.
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