Talks break ice between govt, SEC over panchayat poll delay

Efforts are being made to de-escalate the face-off between the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) over the holding of the elections to the panchayati raj institutions (PRI).

Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta today met State Election Commissioner Anil Khachi, here. The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Secretary C. Paulrasu also met Khachi. It was conveyed on the part of the state government that it would not be possible to hold elections before January 30, 2026. 

It is reliably learnt that Chief Secretary in his meeting with the State Election Commissioner explained that under the present circumstances, in some parts of the state which suffered damage during the monsoons, road connectivity had still not been restored and restoration work was still underway. 

The issue of deferment of the PRI elections will come up for hearing before the High Court on December 22 next month. Gupta is learnt to have also conveyed to the SEC that delimitation of some of the panchayats as per the decision of the Cabinet may be allowed. 

As such it is being expected that the issue may now be resolved between the state government and the SEC and the PRI polls may be held a little later than scheduled. It was on October 8 that the state government had issued an order under Section 24 (e) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 that the PRI polls would be held only after the restoration of proper connectivity of roads throughout the state.