A Congress leader in Haryana and Supreme Court Advocate Pearl Choudhary took up the matter slamming the move. It may be underlined that she contested Haryana Assembly Elections in 2024 as Congress candidate. Pearl Choudhary said, “the move is a mockery of the Indian Constitution”. The Congress also said that it would shrink women’s political space in local governance.

However, in the wake of a backlash over the promotion of “Mayor pati raaj”, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has withdrawn the order of appointment. On April 21, the order was issued by Gurgaon Municipal Commissioner Ashok Garg appointing Tilak Raj as Raj Rani’s “advisor”, adding that this was as “per the request received from the Mayor, Municipal Corporation Gurugram”.

This was after the controversy was embroiled over a fake caste certificate of Raj Rani that she allegedly used to contest the Gurugram municipal seat, which is reserved for the OBC-A category in Haryana.

Raj Rani, during her elections, was frequently called out for being a “mute rubber stamp with no voice of hers”.  Sarpanch Pati, Mukhiya Pati and Mayor Pati have become very common after the historic decision of women’s quota in local bodies became a reality which was an attempt for the women-empowerment. The recent development and the course correction has again underscored that issues raised with right-earnest get to see the light of day in the process of administration and governance.