Devendra Fadnavis. (File)
Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday opposed the state government’s decision to appoint administrators to 14,000 gram panchayats. The “political appointments” in the gram panchayats, Fadnavis said, amounted to “misuse” of political power to control the gram panchayats.
Elections to 14,000 gram panchayats in the state were put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, state Rural Development Minister Hassan Mushriff issued a government resolution (GR) stating Zilla Parishad chief executive officers (CEO) in consultation with their respective district guardian ministers should appoint administrators to 14,000 gram panchayats. This comes a month after the state Cabinet approved the appointment of administrators to gram panchayats whose five-year tenure was over.
In a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said, “It was highly unethical to push political appointments in gram panchayats while taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Earlier, the State Election Commission while deferring the gram panchayats polls had directed the state government to appoint administrators.
“The election commission’s objective was free and fair functioning of the gram panchayats. The SEC did not recommend political appointments. Therefore, the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena coalition government’s decision to push their respective local political leaders or handpick individuals of their choice to head gram panchayats is not correct,” Fadnavis said. “In a democracy, elections are sacrosanct.
Therefore, any misuse by the ruling parties to control the gram panchayats is not acceptable. And it grossly violates the very foundation of electoral system at grassroots,”he added.
In April, former finance minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar had urged the SEC and the state government to extend the tenure of gram panchayats by six months in wake of Covid-19. Mungantiwar had argued, “Since gram panchayat polls are not contested on party lines or symbols there should be no problem to allow the current elected bodies to continue for another six months or till the next elections if it takes place before six months.”
Plea before HC challenging GR
A sarpanch from Latur district Tuesday moved the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court challenging the GR on the appointment of administrators to 14,000 gram panchayats. The plea alleged that the move was “politically motivated”.
Daud Rashid Biradar, the sarpanch of Marsangvi village in Jalkot taluka, filed the writ plea through advocate Siddheshwar S Thombre seeking that the GR be quashed and set aside. He also sought a stay on its pending hearing.
The petition stated though the election was not possible due to Covid-19 situation, in the interest of justice it was necessary to extend the period of the currently elected bodies or sarpanches in the gram panchayats whose tenures were likely to expire in August or September. The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Friday, July 17.
Earlier this month, Biradar had filed a plea before HC challenging a June 25 ordinance of the state government, which amended Section 151 of the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act by allowing the appointment of administrators in case the SEC could not hold elections due to natural calamity, pandemic emergency, financial emergency or administrative emergency. The petition was heard by the Aurangabad bench of the HC, led by Justice S V Gangapurwala, last week.
In its July 9 order, the HC had noted, “The term of the gram panchayat is fixed by the Constitution of India. The Constitution, nor the statute provides for extending the term of the gram panchayat. The administrator is appointed under the ordinance.”