Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched a sharp attack on the Congress government, accusing it of weakening democratic institutions, disregarding the people’s mandate and misusing the administrative machinery for political purposes.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Saturday, he said that, as per the spirit of the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, elections should have been held immediately after completing the required procedures, including delimitation. However, he alleged that the Congress government deliberately adopted a strategy to delay the elections.
The government initially invoked the Disaster Management Act to defer the polls. When the BJP approached the High Court, the Himachal Pradesh High Court directed the government to conduct the elections. The state government then moved the Supreme Court, but the apex court also ordered that the elections be held within the stipulated timeframe. Ultimately, the government was compelled to conduct the polls.
The Leader of Opposition said the Chief Minister had anticipated that the election results would go against the Congress and that this apprehension proved correct. “The results of the Panchayat, Block Samiti, Urban Local Body and Zila Parishad elections clearly demonstrated that the people had rejected the Congress government’s anti-people policies,” he said.
Thakur pointed out that the process of electing Zila Parishad Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons had been completed in 10 of Himachal Pradesh’s 12 districts. He claimed that in nine of these districts, the Congress could not even field candidates, while BJP-supported candidates were elected unopposed.
He further claimed that nearly 70 per cent of Gram Panchayat Pradhans elected across the state were supported by the BJP. Similarly, he said the BJP secured major victories in Urban Local Bodies, including Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. In the Municipal Corporations of Dharamshala, Mandi and Solan, BJP-supported candidates won the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, which, he said, reflected the people’s preference.
Thakur alleged that despite the election results, the government was unwilling to accept the public mandate. He accused the state government of amending the Panchayati Raj Rules to indefinitely delay the elections for Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons. Earlier, the rules required these elections to be held within seven days of the declaration of results. However, through a notification issued on April 18, 2026, the government amended the rules. He referred to a recent Himachal Pradesh High Court judgment in the Indora Block Samiti case, in which the court held that no authority had the power to postpone such elections indefinitely, as the parent Act contains no such provision.
The former Chief Minister said the Shimla Zila Parishad has 25 elected members, of whom 13 are supported by the BJP, while some other elected members also support the party. Despite this, he said the government had not yet announced the election schedule for the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson.
He alleged that the administration was functioning under political pressure from the Chief Minister and was deliberately attempting to undermine the democratic mandate. He warned that if the schedule for the election of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson was not announced within two days, the BJP would approach the High Court.
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