Hybrid election model brings Raj Congress rift to fore

The Rajasthan government's decision to implement a hybrid model for the election of civic body heads has brought the rift in the Congress to the fore, with a section of its leaders and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot's camp opposing it.

The local self-government department had on Wednesday notified the Rajasthan Municipal (Election) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2019, under which any citizen can contest the election to the post of chairperson and mayor. The decision has left the state's ruling Congress a divided house.

Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot criticised the move openly on Friday, saying "The decision needs to be considered and should have the support of all the ministers". Earlier in the day, two ministers had expressed their unhappiness, with one of them even stating that the cabinet was unaware of the decision before it was announced.

The new rule comes days after the announcement that elections to these posts will be indirect, which means that elected members of municipalities and corporations will choose their chief.

However, members of Parliament or the state legislative assembly, or a member or chairperson of a Panchayati Raj institution cannot contest for these posts, the notification said. The new rules are an amendment to rule 78 of the Rajasthan Municipalities (Election) Rules, 1994.

Criticising the model, State Minister Ramesh Meena on Friday said the people appreciated the decision of an indirect election but people and public representatives have expressed their apprehension about the hybrid election model.

State Minister Shanti Dhariwal, who is known to be from Chief Minster Ashok Gehlot's camp, announced the implementation of the hybrid model in the forthcoming civic unit elections on Thursday. According to the model, the president or chairperson of a civic unit can be elected without contesting any election or even after getting defeated in the election.

While elected councillors/corporators used to elect a mayor or a president so far, a gazette notification issued.

There are seven municipal corporations (Nagar Nigam), 34 municipal councils (Nagar Parishad) and 149 municipalities (Nagar Palika) in Rajasthan. Elections for them will be held later this year.