Panchayat campaign rules — from posters to loudspeakers (Rajasthan 2026)

• Printing posters must follow Section 127A of the Representation of the People Act 1951 — the printer's and publisher's names and addresses must appear on the poster or pamphlet.
• Cut-outs, hoardings, posters or banners in public places need written permission from the local authority or competent officer.
• On private property (where local law says nothing else) only easily removable material — flags, banners — and only with the owner's written permission. Nothing on anyone's land, house, compound or wall without permission.
• No cut-outs, hoardings, posters or banners within 200 m of any polling booth building. On polling day a candidate's booth may have one banner (max 2×5 ft) with no photo of a leader or candidate, symbol or slogan.
• Do not remove another candidate's posters.
• Campaign material must follow the Union Environment Ministry's notification of 12 August 2021 (plastic waste management) to the letter.

⚠️ After the announcement the district administration removes wall writing, posters, hoardings, banners and flags from government property within 24 hours, public property within 48 and private property within 72, and reports to the Commission (SEC letter 8703).

• Banned outright (from notification to the end of the election): buses, trucks, minibuses, matadors, and animal-drawn vehicles such as tongas, camel carts and bullock carts.
• At least 24 hours before use, give the vehicle's number, type and driver's name and address in writing; permission comes in Form 'Kha' and must be displayed on the vehicle.
• No rally or convoy of more than 3 vehicles; none at all in the 48 hours before polling ends.
• Separate written permission for polling day. Only the candidate, their family, the election agent and the agent's family may ride; ferrying voters to and from polling stations is forbidden.
• At nomination: at most 5 people including the candidate in the returning officer's office, no rally, and within 100 m of the office 1 vehicle for sarpanch, 2 for samiti, 3 for zila parishad. If the candidate stays in the race, these vehicles count towards election expenses (SEC letter 8918).

• Loudspeakers only 6 AM to 10 PM, with written permission in Form 'Ga' from the district or sub-divisional magistrate or competent authority; the application must say when, how and where.
• No loudspeaker at all at a candidate's election office, nor within 100 m of hospitals, schools and places of worship; never at high volume even with permission.
• Public meetings, processions or rallies need the area executive magistrate's permission; tell the police the place and time in advance; obey any prohibitory orders in force.
• Fix a procession's time, start and end points and route beforehand; keep to one side of the road; do not pass where another candidate is holding a meeting; no carrying or burning effigies; nothing that could be misused in anger.
• Do not disrupt others' meetings or processions — not with questions or leaflets. If your own meeting is disrupted, do not act yourself; call the police on duty.

• In the 48 hours ending with the close of poll: no public meetings, no vehicle rallies or convoys and no loudspeakers.
• No liquor offered or distributed on polling day and in the 48 hours before; candidates must stop their workers too.
• Identity slips for voters must be on plain white paper with no symbol, candidate's name or party name.
• A candidate's camp may never be within 200 m of a polling station; it must be simple — no tent, no posters, flags or symbols, no food, no crowds.
• No canvassing in or within 100 m of a polling station; trying to vote in another's name is an offence.
• Apart from voters, nobody may enter a polling station without a valid Commission pass.

The election expense account is filed in Form 'Ka' within 15 days of the result with the district election officer (panchayat), i.e. the Collector, or their authorised officer. It is put up on the notice board for 3 days, and anyone may object to it in the following 7 days.

• Seeking votes on religious, communal or caste sentiment; campaigning from places of worship.
• Attacking opponents' private lives or making unverified allegations — criticism only of policies, programmes and work.
• Bribing or intimidating voters, impersonation; demonstrations or protests outside anyone's home.
• Appointing central, state or local-body employees as agents or using them in the campaign.
• The ruling party: no government vehicles, machinery or staff in the campaign; after the announcement no new financial sanctions, foundation stones, road or water promises, discretionary grants, ad hoc appointments or transfers of election staff.

Under Section 22A of the Panchayati Raj Act, breaking the rules on vehicles, loudspeakers, posters and banners or spending can, on conviction, bring a fine of up to ₹2,000, and by Commission order the person can be disqualified from being elected to any Panchayati Raj institution for up to 6 years.

Complaints go to the district election officer (panchayat), i.e. the Collector, or their authorised officer, who inquires personally or through an officer not below tehsildar; if the charge holds, the sub-divisional officer files a complaint in court. Any election complaint can also be reported to the Commission's observer.