Election deferment violation of democratic norms: Himachal BJP

Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma today accused the Congress government of violating democratic norms by postponing the elections to panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) like it deferred the urban local body poll earlier.

Sharma, while addressing mediapersons here, said that the state government first attempted to postpone the urban local body elections and now it postponed the PRI elections yesterday. “The Congress government, which is alleging 'vote chori', is itself going against the democratic norms by postponing the PRI elections,” he added.

He said that the state government had postponed the PRI elections on the pretext that the restoration work in disaster-affected areas was still not complete. “Now, the Chief Minister and ministers are trying to create confusion by stating that the elections will be held on time. If it is so then why did the Disaster State Management Authority pass the order on Thursday,” he added.

Sharma said that the state government promulgated an ordinance to postpone elections to the newly created urban local bodies. “An amendment Bill was introduced during the Assembly session to pass the ordinance. It was decided that the elections to the newly formed urban local bodies in the state would not be held for two years,” he added.