Odisha State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi indicated on Saturday that the state’s upcoming Panchayat elections are likely to take place toward the end of March or in the first week of April.
Groundwork and administrative preparations for the rural elections have already been initiated by the State Election Commission.
According to sources, a comprehensive door-to-door survey to compile an updated electoral roll specifically for the Panchayat polls is set to run from October 24 to November 7.
Once the enumeration process concludes, voters will be granted an opportunity to submit claims and file formal objections.
Following the verification and objection period, the Commission expects to publish the finalized voter list by the second week of February. However, the election schedule will likely be declared only after March 5, as the ongoing national population census must reach completion first.
Although the tenure of the current Panchayats reaches its end in February, the State Election Commission anticipates a short delay of roughly one month in holding elections on account of the census work.
Similarly, municipal elections are slated to be conducted about a month following the conclusion of the rural Panchayat elections. These urban elections will cover all newly designated NACs, municipalities, and municipal corporations across the state.
To ensure adequate infrastructure and logstical readiness, the Commission has ordered 15,000 additional ballot boxes for the rural Panchayat polls. Furthermore, 6,000 extra Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been requested for the urban municipal elections.
