Bhopal: A day after the Madhya Pradesh government withdrew the ordinance on panchayat elections, the state election commission (SEC) on Monday sought legal opinion regarding the polls. State election commissioner BP Singh said that officials of the panchayat and rural development department held a meeting on Monday to discuss the elections after the commission received information on the withdrawal of the ordinance.
The SEC will make a decision on the panchayat elections on the basis of legal opinion, he added. The polling process is already underway and the deadline for withdrawal of nominations for the first two phases (January 6th and 28th) passed on December 23rd. The withdrawal of Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Evam Gram Swaraj Amendment Ordinance-2021 has put SEC in an unprecedented quandary.
Earlier, in light of a December 17th Supreme Court order, SEC had postponed elections in seats reserved for OBC. On December 23rd, the state election officials announced that the results of all the seats would not be announced until the decision of the apex court. And on December 26th, the state government withdrew the ordinance, upon which the election was scheduled. “We are waiting for a legal opinion on the issue,” SEC secretary BS Jamod said on Monday evening. Sources said that officials waited till late hours, hoping that the legal opinion would come through, but sources later said the decision is likely to be taken on Tuesday.