After the Supreme Court directed the Rajasthan's State Election Commission to conduct the last phase of Panchayat polls, on Friday, the Deputy CM of the state, Sachin Pilot welcomed the apex court’s decision. He expressed content over SC’s decision to scrap all the petitions against the development of Panchayats suggested by the government in Rajasthan. Pilot further added that SC had restored the state’s faith in democracy. 

Sachin Pilot of Supreme Court’s decision 

Talking about the Supreme Court’s decision, Sachin Pilot said, “I welcome Supreme Court’s decision. I want to thank the SC on behalf of all the people in Rajasthan. This will ensure that we can soon have elections. I am also happy that the honourable Supreme Court has accepted and approved all the notifications that we had registered regarding the development of Panchayat. The SC has also dismissed all the petitions challenging our notifications and approved our development projects. They have also directed the Election Commission to conduct the polls in the state as soon as possible. They have asked them to complete it before April.” 

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“I feel that there should always be free and fair elections in a democracy. These elections are important for rural areas. We have also stood by the fact that there should be elections, but it was challenged in the Supreme Court for the longest time. Today, I feel that our democracy has won.The Election Commission is a democratic institution and I want to assure them that the state government will completely support them in conducting elections smoothly,” he added. 

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SC’s decision on Panchayat elections in Rajasthan 

On Friday, the apex court directed the Rajasthan Election Commission to hold Panchayat elections in the state by April 2020. CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde headed the bench which heard the petition filed by the Rajasthan government against the state election commission's decision to stay the fourth phase of panchayat elections. The state government had filed a petition in the apex court challenging the commission's decision to stay the elections and sought that the polls are conducted before the term of the Panchayat ends. Earlier, Rajasthan High Court had quashed a notification on delimitations after which the state had moved the top court. 

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