Cash incentives for sarpanches elected unopposed: Shivraj

Hours before the state election commission declared the schedule for the three-tier panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday announced incentives for the panchayats where candidates would be elected unopposed.

Mr Chouhan announced that a panchayat would be given an incentive of Rs five lakh if a sarpanch in the local body would be elected unopposed.

If a sarpanch would be elected unopposed consecutively for a second time, then the panchayat would be awarded Rs seven lakh.

If all panchs and the sarpanch in a panchayat would be elected unopposed, the local body would be given an incentive of Rs seven lakhs.

He also made special announcements for women candidates.

“If it will be an allwomen body in a panchayat in the polls, then the local body would be given an incentive of Rs 12 lakh. If women are elected unopposed to all posts of sarpanch and panch, then the panchayat would be given an incentive of `15 lakh,” the chief minister said.

Congress however cried foul over the incentive move by the chief minister. “The chief minister is promoting match-fixing in the elections by declaring incentives for the panchayats where candidates are elected unopposed,” state Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath said.

In the suspended panchayat polls in February this year, posts of sarpanches of several rural bodies were auctioned by the local villagers. Post of sarpanch in a panchayat was ‘auctioned’ by the elders of the village at `54 lakhs. Post of sarpanch in the panchayat was sold at `42 lakh.