From Pakistan’s corridors of power to a Rajasthan panchayat: The Sodhas’ journey home

Padam Singh Sodha’s election was more than a local political win. At 77, he became the first sarpanch of the newly created Chachro village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district. The result carried personal and historical meaning because his family came from Chhachro in Pakistan’s Sindh province.

Padam Singh won 950 votes, defeating Dhana Ram, who received 612. The village was created in 2024 from Bawdi Kala after years of lobbying by residents connected to Chhachro. Many residents were displaced from the Pakistani village and still felt tied to it.

Padam Singh said the victory reminded him of home. His family had left Chhachro after the 1971 war and rebuilt its life in India. His election therefore represented a symbolic return, even though the original homeland remains across the border. The village now carries that connection forward.

A sarpanch is the elected leader of a village panchayat, the local self-government body for a rural area. The position matters because it gives villagers a direct representative for local decisions, development priorities, and public concerns. The exact responsibilities can vary by state law.

In everyday work, a sarpanch typically chairs panchayat meetings, helps plan local projects, and works with government officials to deliver services. These may include roads, sanitation, water, records, and welfare programmes. The sarpanch does not govern alone; elected ward members and the gram sabha also form part of village-level decision-making.

The article provides a concrete example through Padam Singh Sodha. He won the first sarpanch election in newly created Chachro village, receiving 950 votes. His election gave residents a local leader and made the post a symbol of their shared connection to Chhachro in Pakistan.

The Sodha family said it abandoned 1.2 lakh bighas of land when it migrated from Chhachro in Pakistan to India after the 1971 war. That figure shows the scale of what the family claimed to have lost. Their ancestral home was later declared enemy property after they left Pakistan.

The election in the new village involved 2,084 votes cast. Padam Singh received 950 votes, while his nearest rival, Dhana Ram, received 612. The result made Padam Singh the first sarpanch of Chachro village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district.

These figures connect a vast historical loss with a small but meaningful local victory. The family could not recover its former landholding, but Padam Singh gained an elected position in a village shaped by displaced residents. For him, the result offered a symbolic sense of return and home.

The Sodhas left Chhachro because their position in Pakistan had become increasingly unsafe. They were a politically influential Hindu landowning family, and the government viewed their influence and opposition to anti-Hindu policies with suspicion. Laxman Singh Sodha was arrested in 1970 on charges of spying for India.

During the 1971 war, Laxman Singh and his brothers helped Indian troops entering Chhachro on December 7, according to the family. They guided troops, provided intelligence, and raised the Indian national flag. After the war, India returned Chhachro and other captured territory to Pakistan under the Shimla Agreement.

Over the following months, family members migrated to India. They left behind land they said covered 1.2 lakh bighas, while their ancestral home became enemy property. In India, they first settled in Chohtan and later Bawdi Kala, rebuilding their lives as farmers after having been landowners.

The Shimla Agreement, signed in July 1972, changed the status of territory India had captured during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Chhachro, along with substantial territory inside West Pakistan, was returned to Pakistan. The agreement therefore ended India’s wartime control of the area.

The change mattered deeply to the Sodha family. On December 7, 1971, Laxman Singh Sodha and his brothers had helped Indian troops enter Chhachro, providing guidance and intelligence, according to the family. They had also raised the Indian national flag there. Yet the territory was later handed back.

After the return, Sodha family members migrated to India over the next few months. They left behind land they claimed covered 1.2 lakh bighas, and their ancestral home was declared enemy property. Their later support for creating Chachore village offered a symbolic way to preserve their connection to Chhachro.

Migration transformed the Sodha family’s social and economic position. In Pakistan, they had been prominent landowners with political influence. In India, they first settled in Chohtan and later Bawdi Kala, where they lived in tents and camps and rebuilt their lives as farmers.

The family said it left behind 1.2 lakh bighas of land, and its ancestral home was declared enemy property. Laxman Singh later served as pradhan of the Chohtan Panchayat Samiti. In 2024, after years of lobbying, the Rajasthan government created Chachore as a new revenue village from Bawdi Kala.

For residents displaced from Chhachro, the new village restored a sense of home without physically recovering the old homeland. Pushpendra called Chhachro their motherland, and the family named its Barmer mansion Chhachro Haveli. Padam Singh’s election strengthened that symbolic connection for the next generation.

Village panchayats are part of India’s system of local self-government. They allow rural residents to elect representatives who address local needs and help manage development. This brings decision-making closer to communities rather than leaving every issue to state or national authorities.

A sarpanch generally leads the village panchayat, while other elected members represent local wards. Together, they may discuss projects, services, and community priorities, often with participation from the gram sabha. State laws determine the precise powers and responsibilities. These details are general background beyond the article’s specific account.

The article shows this system through Chachore’s election. Residents voted for Padam Singh Sodha, who became the village’s first sarpanch with 950 votes. His election gave a displaced community a local political voice, while also turning a formal self-government position into a symbol of historical memory.