Days after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari refused to sign an ordinance scrapping direct election for the post of sarpanch, the Assembly on Tuesday passed a Bill to pave the way to hold indirect polls in 1,570 grampanchayats in 19 districts on March 29.
Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif said the State Election Commission (SEC) would be informed that the government has passed a Bill according to which the grampanchayat elections can be held.
With Mr. Koshyari declining to sign the ordinance, the polls would have seen the sarpanch being elected directly by the people and not by the elected grampanchayat members. The Bill now reverses the previous Devendra Fadnavis government’s decision on July 3, 2017, to amend clauses of the Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Act of 1958 to facilitate election of the sarpanch directly by the people.
Both Houses clear Bill
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, which had opposed the move then, have changed the rule after coming to power. Earlier, Mr. Koshyari did not sign the ordinance and said a Bill to the effect can be passed in the budget session. Accordingly, the Bill was passed in both Houses on Tuesday.
According to sources, even though the announcement of the grampanchayat elections has been made, the notification has not been issued. Therefore, the newly passed Bill can be implemented, scrapping the system of direct election of the sarpanch in villages.
Mr. Mushrif said India is a parliamentary democracy and the sarpanch has to be chosen by the elected panchayat representatives. “There have been instances where the sarpanch and other members belong to different groups or parties, leading to conflict and stopping of developmental work in the village,” he said.
BJP leaders meet Governor
Meanwhile, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposed the Bill and criticised the government for clearing it amid sloganeering in both Houses. A delegation of BJP leaders met Mr. Koshyari on Tuesday evening and informed him about their displeasure at the passing of the Bill.
“We will inform the SEC that the election for the post of sarpanch should be through the indirect method. This means elected members will choose a sarpanch from among themselves,” Mr. Mushrif said.
