MARKET STRUCTURE · REGULATORY · INDIA
Rajasthan removes two-child eligibility bar for panchayat and municipal election candidates
Change
On Feb 25, 2026, the Rajasthan Cabinet approved scrapping legal provisions that barred people with more than two children from contesting Panchayati Raj and urban local body elections, with amendment bills to be introduced in the ongoing Budget session.
Why it matters
Rajasthan’s Cabinet has cleared the removal of the two-child norm that disqualified candidates with more than two children from contesting panchayat and municipal elections, reversing a restriction in place since 1995. The government will introduce two amendment bills in the ongoing Budget session to amend Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and Section 24 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009. If enacted, the eligibility constraint that shaped candidate selection for nearly three decades is lifted ahead of local body elections. The Cabinet cited a decline in fertility rates (to 2 from 3.6 in 1991–94) as the rationale for removing the population-control-linked restriction.
Implications
- • Eligibility expands for candidates previously disqualified for having >2 children
- • Local election candidate vetting criteria change ahead of upcoming polls
- • Amendments will alter statutory disqualification clauses in two state acts
Who is affected
- • Prospective candidates for Panchayati Raj elections in Rajasthan
- • Prospective candidates for Rajasthan municipal/urban local body elections
- • Political parties selecting and fielding local election candidates
- • State election administrators applying candidate eligibility rules
Source
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