Session opens with clash over delay in holding panchayat, local body poll

The Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha’s winter session opened on a tense note as Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania admitted an adjournment motion moved by BJP MLA Randhir Sharma. The motion sought suspension of the Question Hour to allow an immediate discussion on what the Opposition described as an “unjustified and politically motivated” delay in holding panchayat and urban local bodies elections.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu responded by stating that the government was fully prepared for a “healthy and fact-based debate”. He insisted that there was no attempt to evade discussion on PRI and ULB polls, stressing that the elections would be conducted strictly according to rules and within constitutional boundaries.

Randhir Sharma accused the Congress government of undermining public interest by attempting to postpone the elections despite the State Election Commission’s (SEC) readiness. He argued that the Cabinet’s decision earlier this week to reorganise panchayats was “clearly timed” to set back the election process. Sharma noted that the SEC had already invoked a key provision of the Model Code of Conduct on November 17, barring any changes in the boundaries or structure of panchayats and municipalities.

Calling the use of the Disaster Management Act “unconstitutional”, Sharma questioned the logic behind the government’s stance. “If children are attending school every day, why can’t their parents step out to vote?” he asked.

Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur escalated the attack, accusing the government of “killing democratic traditions and constitutional norms” during its three-year tenure. Speaking on Constitution Day, he reminded the ruling side that timely elections were a constitutional obligation. Thakur alleged that the government was intentionally delaying the polls out of “fear of losing”.

Drawing a sharp comparison, he said the current approach resembled the Emergency of 1975, claiming that the Disaster Management Act was being misused to “avoid public scrutiny”. Thakur pointed out that PRI elections had been conducted in 2020 under his government during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “If elections could be held then, what is stopping the government now?” he asked.

He further accused the Chief Minister of misleading the public on issues such as the OBC roster and delimitation. “Delimitation of panchayats or urban wards is simply a tool to delay elections by a year,” he said. Urging the Chief Minister to show political courage, Thakur remarked: “Don’t delay. This is not healthy for the state.”

Congress MLAs Sanjay Awasthi, Nand Lal, Suresh Kumar, Kishori Lal, Chander Shekhar, Mohan Lal Brakta and Ram Kumar defended the government’s stance, saying that post-disaster restoration and restructuring of panchayats must precede polls. BJP legislators Surinder Sohi, Jeet Ram Katwal, Rakesh Jamwal, Inder Singh Gandhi, Tarlok Jamwal and Dalip Thakur countered that the government’s only motive was to postpone elections fearing defeat.

The Assembly will resume the debate on Thursday.