Shimla, April 2 -- Amid Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) accusation of deliberately delaying panchayat elections, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday announced that panchayat elections will be conducted by May 31 while accusing the BJP of creating "unnecessary ruckus". Defending the government's handling of panchayat elections, Sukhu said the schedule was aligned with judicial directives and administrative convenience. "We wanted elections in May, in line with the Supreme Court's direction, to ensure that school examinations are not disrupted as teachers are deployed for election duties," he said. Addressing the controversy over the provision allowing up to 5% changes in the reservation roster by deputy commissioners, the chief minister said the move was aimed at correcting ground-level discrepancies. "In several cases, seats were reserved for OBCs where the population was negligible. We have given limited powers to DCs to rationalise such anomalies," Sukhu stated. He reiterated that the reservation process would continue to follow established norms. "Reservation in panchayats will be implemented in order-Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and women strictly based on population data. This is a corrective and practical measure, not a political one," he added. htc...