Jaipur, Oct. 1 -- The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP government of misusing government machinery to collect details of potential candidates in the Panchayati Raj elections, and pressure them before the polls are announced. The BJP rejected the allegations, saying the party has its own network to assess prospective candidates. Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully shared images of a purported letter seeking details of probable candidates on social media platform X and questioned why the government required such information. "Frightened by the mandate of the municipal elections, the BJP government is now busy obtaining lists of probable candidates through government machinery before the Panchayati Raj elections. Chief minister, the elections have not even begun. Is the fear of defeat already haunting you?" Jully wrote on X. Taking a swipe at chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Jully questioned who had advised him to seek details of likely candidates for the posts of zila pramukh and pradhan, as well as membership of zila parishads and panchayat samitis. "Why do you need these details? Is this the work of government? Why are you misusing government machinery? You file cases against them, issue notices, recover money from them, conduct raids or arrest them so that they cannot file their nomination papers?" he asked. Jully also questioned the role of officers in the chief minister's office, alleging that they were implementing directions to collect the information. Accusing the BJP government of attempting to portray a defeat in the civic elections as a victory, Jully alleged that government departments had been used to undermine the democratic process. He said the people of Rajasthan would not bow to pressure and would give their verdict in the forthcoming Panchayati Raj elections. "Stop misusing government machinery. I would also request the Election Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into why these details are being sought,"he said. "Are you seeking these details to intimidate, threaten, harass or bribe them? The people of Rajasthan will teach you a lesson," he added. Rejecting the allegations, BJP state president Madan Rathore said the party did not need to use government machinery to obtain information about prospective candidates. "We do not need to do such things. We have our own network, and we are sending our surveyors," Rathore said. Minister of state for home Jawahar Singh Bedham also dismissed the allegations and said the Congress should introspect on the civic election results. "After the BJP's victory, the Congress is making such allegations out of frustration. If the administrative machinery had been misused, how could the Congress have won 91 civic bodies?" Bedham said. He argued that if the government had intended to influence the outcome, the BJP would have won all civic bodies. Different results across local bodies, he said, reflected electoral competition and local political equations. Jully's remarks came amid continuing Congress allegations that the BJP government was delaying the announcement of the Panchayat election schedule because it feared an adverse verdict following the civic polls. The schedule was expected to be announced on Wednesday, but no announcement was made. It may now be announced over the weekend or next week. The Rajasthan high court has directed the government to complete the election process by November 15....