Overview
- The OBC Political Representation Commission, whose term was extended Wednesday, now runs through September 30, 2026 and keeps Panchayat and municipal polls on hold.
- The panel was set up on May 9, 2025 to meet the Supreme Court’s triple test for OBC quotas, which requires a dedicated commission, local data on backwardness, and a 50% cap on total reservations.
- District submissions to the commission included incomplete or inaccurate OBC figures, and officials say the missing empirical data blocks seat reservation mapping for the next polls.
- The Rajasthan High Court had ordered the government to finish Panchayat elections by April 15, 2026, yet many expired bodies are run by administrators, including 29 Zila Parishads, 327 Panchayat Samitis, and all 14,403 Gram Panchayats.
- The Congress launched a 30-day 'Organisation Expansion — Save Democracy' campaign accusing the BJP state government of stalling elections, while Minister Jhabar Singh Kharra says voting can proceed only after the commission’s report, and reporters note polls before October 2026 now appear unlikely.