A day after scrapping the two-child norm for panchayat elections, the Rajasthan Assembly on Tuesday passed a Bill for removing the restriction preventing individuals with more than two children from contesting the urban local body (ULB) elections. The provision for disqualification existed in the State for the last three decades.
The Rajasthan Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed by voice vote in the House after a brief debate in which the Opposition Congress MLAs raised the issues of delimitation of wards, corruption in local bodies and the use of old electoral rolls for the upcoming municipal elections.
The Bill’s passage paved the way for the candidates having more than two children to contest the polls and become municipal councillors, mayors, and chairpersons of municipalities and municipal councils in the urban areas of the State.
The disqualification, removed with an amendment to Section 24 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009, was introduced in the State in 1995 during the government led by then Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. A similar restriction was imposed for the panchayat elections, which was repealed by another Bill passed in the Assembly on Monday.
‘No clarity on polls’
Congress MLA and Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra asked the State government if it intended to scrap the two-child norm for a number of schemes of both the Centre and the State as well. “Even after bringing this Amendment Bill, there is no clarity about the dates of local body polls,” he said.
Replying to the debate, Minister of State for Local Self Government Jhabar Singh Kharra said the removal of disqualification was a step towards ensuring greater participation in the democratic process. “It will give an opportunity to contest the polls to those who were earlier excluded because of the two-child limit,” he said.
Mr. Kharra said the State government was in a position to hold simultaneous elections for municipal bodies under the ‘one State, one election’ system, but it had to fulfil the condition for providing reservation to Other Backward Classes. It was mandatory to wait for the OBC Commission’s report for the purpose, he said.
Speaker Vasudev Devnani adjourned the Assembly sine die after the passage of the Bill, while bringing the Budget Session to a closure. The Bill also amended Section 2(xix)(a) of the 2009 Act by removing leprosy from the list of dangerous diseases notified under the law. The amendment was aimed at removing discrimination against the leprosy affected or cured persons.
Published – March 10, 2026 10:24 pm IST
