Jaipur- Rajasthan State Congress President Govind Singh Dotasara has alleged that the BJP government has acted unfairly towards the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the reservation lottery for urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions. Dotasara alleged that the reservation exercise has limited the representation of these communities despite what he described as scope for greater reservation within the 50% ceiling.

His allegations came after the state government completed the reservation lottery for the posts of mayors/chairpersons of Rajasthan's urban local bodies and for district chiefs of the state's Zila Parishads.

According to the reservation list released by the Local Self Government Department, Rajasthan has 309 urban local bodies , 10 municipal corporations, 51 municipal councils and 248 municipalities. The reservation lottery for the posts of mayor/chairperson in all 309 bodies has been completed.

The 309 posts have been allocated as follows:

• 50 seats Scheduled Caste (SC)

• 11 seats Scheduled Tribe (ST)

• 60 seats Other Backward Classes (OBC)

• 188 seats Unreserved

The figures add up to all 309 urban local bodies. The lottery was conducted on the basis of rotation and population. Seats that had been reserved for SC or ST in 2014 and 2019 were excluded from consideration this time, after which the remaining bodies were arranged according to the descending population of the concerned category before the draw.

The reservation list covers the posts of mayor in municipal corporations and chairpersons/presidents in municipal councils and municipalities. The department's process was completed at its Jaipur headquarters.

Zila Pramukh lottery for 41 Zila Parishads

The reservation lottery for the district chief (Zila Pramukh) posts of all 41 Zila Parishads has also been completed. According to the published district-wise list, 10 district chief posts are unreserved. These are Baran, Barmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Karauli, Kotputli-Behror, Rajsamand, Sirohi and Udaipur.

The remaining posts have been distributed among reserved categories and women. The list includes five OBC-reserved districts, eight SC-reserved districts and seven ST-reserved districts, while other posts are reserved for women, including women from the respective categories.

The district-chief lottery was conducted at the Panchayati Raj Bhawan in Jaipur under the chairmanship of Panchayati Raj Commissioner Jogaram. The process was briefly halted after objections were raised over the procedure, following which officials explained the applicable rules and the lottery was resumed.

Rajasthan Congress Chief Dotasara alleged that the BJP government had committed "injustice" and "dishonesty" with OBC, SC and ST communities through the reservation process. He argued that the issue was not merely about reservation figures but about what he described as the constitutional principle of ensuring fair representation to deprived and backward communities.

Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's call for "proportionate representation according to population", Dotasara said political power, institutions and resources should not remain confined to a few sections.

He alleged that the Rajasthan government was instead limiting the actual representation of OBC, SC and ST communities by presenting the reservation figures in a manner that, according to him, restricted their constitutional rights.

Dotasara's claim about OBC representation in Zila Parishads

Dotasara claimed that Rajasthan's 41 Zila Parishads have 1,403 electoral constituencies, but only 192 wards, or 13.68%, have been recommended for OBC reservation.

According to his calculation, if OBC reservation had been provided at 21% within the 50% overall ceiling, 294 wards could have been reserved for OBCs. He therefore alleged that 102 fewer wards were reserved for the community. (These figures and the comparison with 21% are Dotasara's claims, not an independently established finding in this report.)

Dotasara similarly claimed that Rajasthan's 457 Panchayat Samitis have 8,245 electoral constituencies, of which only 1,101 wards, around 13.35%, were reserved for OBCs.

He said that at 21% reservation, 1,731 wards could have been reserved, which according to his calculation means 630 fewer wards were reserved for OBCs. Dotasara questioned the basis on which these figures had been calculated and demanded that the government make the methodology and data publicly available.

Dotasara also raised questions over the distribution of OBC-reserved seats in individual districts. He said OBC seats constituted around 9.9% in Alwar, Chittorgarh, Dausa, Karauli and Sri Ganganagar, while the figure was 11.11% in Didwana-Kuchaman, Pali, Phalodi and Rajsamand.

He questioned the basis for these percentages, particularly in districts where he claimed OBC population was above 45–50%.

Dotasara demanded that the government publicly explain the basis for the percentages fixed for each district.

Alleged discrepancies in population data

Another major point raised by Dotasara concerns what he described as inconsistencies in the government's rural population figures.

He argued that the OBC population figures of a particular district should logically correspond with the figures used for Panchayat Samitis and the Zila Parishad of the same district.

Dotasara alleged that in several places the figures showed differences of several percentage points and questioned how the same rural population could produce different figures for different local institutions. He demanded that the government disclose the survey, methodology and standards used to prepare the OBC data.

Dotasara cited several districts where he said the combined SC-ST and OBC reservation remained below 50%.

He cited the following figures:

• Ajmer - 39.97%

• Balotra - 41.93%

• Barmer - 43.24%

• Beawar - 33.3%

• Churu - 46.75%

• Deeg - 34.48%

• Didwana-Kuchaman - 42.85%

• Jaisalmer - 38%

• Jhunjhunu - 39%

• Khairthal-Tijara - 36%

• Kotputli-Behror - 37%

• Phalodi - 39.13%

• Sikar - 40.8%

Dotasara questioned why, according to the figures cited by him, SC, ST and OBC representation in several districts remained below 40% when he argued that there was scope for greater representation within the overall 50% ceiling.

"This is about representation, not taking anyone else's share"

Dotasara said OBC, SC and ST communities were not seeking anyone else's share but were demanding what he described as their constitutional right to representation and dignity.

He also alleged that the government was creating confusion through what he called incomplete and disputed OBC data.

The Congress leader demanded transparency over the data and said the government should explain the basis on which the reservation figures had been prepared.

Dotasara further said the issue was not limited to 102 Zila Parishad wards or 630 Panchayat Samiti wards, but was, in his words, about the broader question of social justice and constitutional representation.

He said the Congress would continue to raise the issue of representation of OBC, SC and ST communities and warned that the party would take the matter to the people during the forthcoming Panchayat and local body elections.