UP Panchayat Elections Likely To Be Postponed Till After 2027 Assembly Polls

The three tier Panchayat polls due by May end, are likely to be postponed. With the Uttar Pradesh government and the election office showing little urgency, the polls to fill up thousands of posts in the three tier panchayat, are now slated to be held after the assembly polls in 2027.

Panchayati Raj minister Om Prakash Rajbhar also seemed to indicate such a proposal when he said “right now all political parties are focussed on the important 2027 assembly polls. Neither the ruling BJP, nor the opposition SP and Congress has raised any such demand to hold the Panchayat polls soon. Also a petition regarding poll timings and seat reservation is pending in the court. Let us see what happens”.

The three tier Panchayat system comprises of District, Block

and village heads and council members. The term of the sitting ‘gram pradhans’ (village heads) and village panchayat ends on May 26, Block Development Council and head ends on July 19, and Chairman Zila Panchayat and district panchayat members ends on July 11. If elections were to be held on time many formalities like publishing the voters list and seat reservations etc have to be completed in advance.

The voters list for the three tier Panchayat polls is slated to be declared by April 15, but the constituting of State Local Rural bodies Backward class Commission which determines which seats will be reserved for the backwards castes is yet to be done.

This makes it apparent that all these time consuming formalities are unlikely to be completed on time and postponing the Panchayat polls is the only option. A petition in the High Court regarding the delayed publishing of the voters list and subsequent polls formalities is also pending.

Highly places sources in the government said that they are looking at appointing administrators to run the three tier Panchayat bodies for about a year and hold the elections after the assembly polls are over by March 2027. Another options is to extend the term of sitting Gram Pradhans by a year, but it will have to face legal scrutiny and appointing an administrator could be a more stable option.

The panchayat polls are a highly charged political affair with nearly 100 elected posts in each district and huge funds at the disposal of the elected members. The polls often lead to factionalism within all political parties, and the ruling BJP especially wants to avoid any heartburn among its cadres. The polls also bring out local rivalries and often lead to a law and order situation in various corners of the state.

Top officials in the government said that they are actively considering postponing the Panchayat polls in the state and a final call on the subject will be taken by this week.