CHANGES ARE BEING MADE FOR THE 2026 BIHAR PANCHAYT ELECTIONS

CHANGES ARE BEING MADE FOR THE 2026 BIHAR PANCHAYT ELECTIONS

28-NOV-ENG 1

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA------------------------The State Election Commission is preparing for the upcoming three-tier Panchayat elections. The Commission has decided to alter the rotation of all reserved category posts, as per the prescribed provisions. This means that the reservation system for seats reserved for certain categories of candidates in the previous two elections will now be completely altered. This could upset the equations of many current representatives.

Under the Panchayat Raj Act, it is mandatory to change the reservation cycle after two consecutive general elections. It is worth noting that the Nitish Kumar government first implemented reservations in 2006, the cycle of which ended in 2011. Subsequently, the same roster system was applied in the 2016 and 2021 Panchayat elections. Since two elections have now been completed, the old reserved seats will be freed up for the 2026 elections, and new reservations will be determined based on the census.

According to the new reservation provisions, the maximum reservation limit for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), and women in the three-tier Panchayat elections is 50 percent. SC and ST categories will receive reservations proportional to their population. For example, if their population in an area is 25 percent, 25 percent of the seats will be reserved for them. Of the remaining seats, approximately 20 percent will be reserved for the Extremely Backward Classes.

The District Magistrate (DM) will be responsible for preparing the reservation roster. According to the new guidelines, reservation for Gram Panchayat members will be determined based on the total number of seats in the Panchayat, while reservation for the post of Mukhiya will be determined based on the number of Panchayats under the Panchayat Samiti. Similarly, reservation for Panchayat Samiti members and Zila Parishad members will also be determined based on the total number of seats. The 50 percent reservation rule will also apply to the posts of Zila Parishad Chairperson and Block Pramukh at the state and district levels.