Dharamshala, Nov. 28 -- Amid growing criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the delay in panchayat polls, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said that polls will be held in the state as soon as the Disaster Management Act is lifted. On the second day of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly's winter session, Sukhu, while responding to the adjournment motion moved by the Opposition, said that "we have postponed the Panchayat elections for some time due to the Disaster Act, not deferred them." BJP MLA Randhir Sharma on Wednesday had moved an adjournment motion under Rule 67, seeking a discussion on the delay in Panchayat polls, which was accepted by the Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania. The BJP MLA's mounted their criticism of state government over the delay in polls alleging that the Congress government is running away from elections. CM Sukhu further told the House that the process of reorganising and demarcating Panchayats began in June. "The Election Commission did its work, and the government did not interfere. However, we never imagined that a disaster even worse than the one in 2023 would occur in 2025. The disaster struck different parts of the state. Our deputy commissioners were engaged in disaster management and rehabilitation. How could they have been assigned to other tasks at such a time?," he said. "So far, whatever the state poll body said, we accepted. But from today, it will also be subject to the provisions of the Disaster Management Act in Himachal. As soon as the Act is lifted, we will hold panchayat elections. As soon as the affected families are rehabilitated, we will hold the elections. If disaster would not have occurred, we all would have been preparing for the elections right now," Sukhu said. The elections, for over 3,500 gram panchayats in the state are due for December 2025-January 2026. The term of the present panchayats will end on January 31. The state government, citing "extensive damage to both private and government properties in the districts" as well as to roads during monsoon, in October, had told the state election commission to postpone the panchayat and local bodies elections in the state "till things improve on the ground". Meanwhile, Anirudh Singh, panchayati raj minister, while speaking in the House, said, "No one has made any statement that elections have been deferred. We still have time for elections. Whenever the Disaster Management Act is implemented, all government functioning slows down and the entire focus shifts towards it. There are 631 buildings of the Panchayati raj department where we cannot hold elections. The Panchayati raj department has suffered a total loss of Rs.196 crore."...