Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma's father votes in panchayat polls at Atari village
Synopsis
As Rajasthan's third phase of panchayat polling unfolded on 3 November, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma's father cast his vote in the family's ancestral village of Atari — while just kilometres away, residents of Nagla Singhada boycotted polls entirely over a delimitation grievance. With 1.06 crore voters and 9,094 candidates in play, the day captured both the symbolic pull and the ground-level tensions of India's rural democracy.
Key Takeaways
Kishan Swaroop Sharma , father of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma , voted at Booth 112 in Atari Gram Panchayat on 3 November 2026 .
He appealed to voters to participate in large numbers, calling citizen turnout essential to strengthening democracy.
Residents of Nagla Singhada village , Bharatpur district , boycotted the polls over a delimitation dispute, demanding restoration to Singhada Gram Panchayat or independent panchayat status.
Phase 3 covers 377 Zila Parishad wards , 2,119 Panchayat Samiti wards , and 9,094 candidates across Rajasthan.
About 1.06 crore voters are eligible in this phase, including more than 51.33 lakh women .
The fourth and final phase is scheduled for 14 November 2026 after the Diwali break.
Kishan Swaroop Sharma, father of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, cast his vote in the third phase of the Rajasthan Panchayat elections on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, at his ancestral village of Atari in the state. He exercised his franchise at Booth number 112, located in room number 4 of the government school in Atari Gram Panchayat, becoming a symbol of civic participation at the grassroots level.
Appeal to Voters
After casting his vote, Kishan Swaroop Sharma addressed journalists and urged citizens across Rajasthan to come out and vote in large numbers. He emphasised that every voter's participation is essential to strengthening democratic institutions at the panchayat level. He subsequently spent time at the village chaupal, engaging with local residents and discussing matters related to the village's development, before departing for Bharatpur.
Boycott in Bharatpur District
In a separate development, residents of Nagla Singhada village in the Bayana Panchayat Samiti of Bharatpur district boycotted the panchayat polls to protest the village's reassignment during the delimitation exercise. The villagers said their settlement was originally part of Singhada Gram Panchayat but has now been merged with Bangaspura Gram Panchayat, located approximately four km away. They demanded either restoration to Singhada Gram Panchayat or recognition as an independent Gram Panchayat. Tehsildar Nitesh Kumar Goyal reached the village to persuade residents to participate in voting, but the villagers held firm on their demands.
Scale of Phase 3 Polling
The third phase of the Rajasthan Panchayat elections commenced at 7 am on Tuesday and was scheduled to conclude at 6 pm. The phase covers 377 wards across 27 Zila Parishads and 2,119 wards across 116 Panchayat Samitis. The electoral fortunes of 9,094 candidates are being decided in this phase. Approximately 1.06 crore eligible voters are entitled to vote, including more than 51.33 lakh women.
What Comes Next
With the completion of the third phase, only one round of polling remains. The fourth and final phase of the Rajasthan Panchayat elections is scheduled for 14 November, after the Diwali break. The conclusion of these polls will determine the composition of panchayat bodies across the state, with far-reaching implications for local governance and rural development priorities.
Point of View
And administration responses that stop at persuasion without structural resolution rarely defuse them. With the fourth phase still to come, unresolved grievances like Nagla Singhada's could dampen turnout in other affected pockets. The state government's handling of these localised protests will be a quiet but telling indicator of how seriously it treats grassroots democratic participation beyond symbolic gestures.
NationPress
3 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Kishan Swaroop Sharma and where did he vote?
Kishan Swaroop Sharma is the father of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. He cast his vote on 3 November 2026 at Booth number 112 in the government school at Atari Gram Panchayat, his ancestral village, during the third phase of Rajasthan's panchayat elections.
Why did residents of Nagla Singhada village boycott the panchayat elections?
Villagers boycotted the polls to protest their village being moved from Singhada Gram Panchayat to Bangaspura Gram Panchayat — about four km away — during the delimitation process. They demanded either restoration to Singhada Gram Panchayat or independent Gram Panchayat status. The boycott continued even after Tehsildar Nitesh Kumar Goyal visited to persuade them.
How many voters and candidates are involved in Phase 3 of the Rajasthan Panchayat elections?
Phase 3 involves approximately 1.06 crore eligible voters, including more than 51.33 lakh women, and decides the fate of 9,094 candidates. It covers 377 Zila Parishad wards across 27 Zila Parishads and 2,119 Panchayat Samiti wards across 116 Panchayat Samitis.
When is the fourth and final phase of the Rajasthan Panchayat elections?
The fourth and final phase is scheduled for 14 November 2026, after the Diwali break. It will complete the statewide panchayat election cycle.
What are the Rajasthan Panchayat elections and why do they matter?
The Rajasthan Panchayat elections determine the composition of grassroots local governance bodies — Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis, and Zila Parishads — across the state. They directly affect rural development, resource allocation, and local administration for millions of citizens, making voter turnout and fair delimitation critically important.
