Assam: Lack of eligible SC woman candidate bars entire village from voting in Panchayat polls

In a surprising development ahead of the upcoming Panchayat elections, residents of No. 2 Barghola village, Khamarpara, under the Srijangram Gaon Panchayat in Bongaigaon district, have effectively been deprived of their voting rights due to the absence of an eligible candidate.

As per the reservation norms for the current election cycle, the member seat for the village has been reserved for a Scheduled Caste (SC) woman. However, no woman from the SC community residing in the village fulfills the eligibility criteria necessary to contest for the seat.

While one SC woman, residing in the village through marriage, was considered a potential candidate, she was found ineligible due to insufficient educational qualifications, thereby preventing her from filing a nomination.

The village, which has 254 registered voters, is predominantly inhabited by the Rajbongshi community, which does not fall under the SC category. With no qualified candidate available, the seat remains uncontested, and villagers are unable to exercise their franchise.

The local populace has voiced deep disappointment and concern over being excluded from the democratic process. They fear that the lack of representation could pose serious hurdles in the implementation of developmental schemes and administrative governance in the area.

Moreover, villagers have questioned the fairness and planning of the electoral process, highlighting the lack of coordination between reservation policy and ground-level realities. They urge authorities to review such cases to prevent unintended disenfranchisement in future elections.