MUMBAI: Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has refused to sign an ordinance reversing the erstwhile BJP-led government’s decision of electing a village sarpanch directly from among the people.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government has decided that a sarpanch will be elected by members of a gram panchayat who belong to political parties. The state cabinet on January 29 reversed the decision taken by the Devendra Fadnavis government of having a sarpanch directly elected. But the governor has asked the MVA government to table a bill reversing the decision in the budget session of the legislature scheduled to begin on Monday.

According to the recent cabinet decision, a village sarpanch will be elected by the elected representatives in the village panchayat, and they alone can vote in the election. Thackeray has also reversed another decision about direct elections in local self-government bodies like municipal councils.

When CM Uddhav Thackeray was asked if there was a dispute between the BJP-appointed governor and the MVA government, he had said, “There is no dispute between the governor and the government. There are a few things which can go ahead and a few cannot, ahead of the state assembly session.”

A senior official said that the state government has now decided to table a fresh bill on the cabinet decision instead of issuing an ordinance.

