Dharamshala, June 28 -- Former Himachal chief minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur has accused the Congress government of misusing the administrative machinery to manipulate the outcome of panchayati raj and urban local body elections. While speaking to the media in Shimla, the LoP alleged that after failing to prevent the elections, the state government is now deliberately delaying the election of chairpersons and vice-chairpersons in an attempt to facilitate horse-trading and overturn the people's mandate. "The Congress government initially made every possible effort to postpone the elections by invoking the Disaster Act, altering election rules and creating procedural hurdles. However, following the intervention of the high court and ultimately the Supreme Court, the elections had to be conducted before the court-mandated deadline. Despite this, the government is refusing to complete the democratic process by withholding the election schedule for key leadership posts in local bodies," he alleged. Thakur also accused the government of intimidating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-backed elected representatives through vigilance inquiries, false cases, transfers of relatives, and administrative pressure to influence the democratic process. The LoP announced that the BJP is preparing a list of officers who, according to the party, are acting under political pressure by delaying elections or targeting BJP-backed elected representatives through administrative action. He warned that such actions would be legally challenged. He warned that if the government does not immediately announce the election schedule for chairpersons and vice-chairpersons and stop interfering in the democratic process, the BJP will intensify its agitation through both legal and public democratic means....