Dates announced for 3-tier panchat polls in Odisha; elections will be held in 5 phases
2.79 crore voters will exercise their franchise to elect 853 ZP members, 6,794 sarapanches
By Our Correspondent
Bhubaneswar: Odisha State Election Commission on Tuesday announced the schedule for the three-tier elections to be held in February this year. The elections will be held in five phases – on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24, announced State Election Commissioner (SEC) Aditya Prasad Padhi.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the model code of conduct came into being with immediate effect in the state. The model code of conduct will remain in force till February 28, the final day for the counting of votes.
As per the SEC, the polling will begin at 7 am and continue till 1 pm on the scheduled days. As many as 2.79 crore voters will exercise their franchise to elect 853 Zilla Parishad members, 6,794 sarapanches, 6,793 panchayat samiti members and 91,913 ward members.
The counting of votes, which will be done at block headquarters level, will be held on February 26, 27 and 28.
“All the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the State Election Commission shall be strictly observed during the elections in view of the pandemic,” he said.
Odisha will go to the polls for a total of 853 Zilla Parishad seats, 91,916 wards and 6,794 panchayats. Only Zilla Parishad candidates shall be able to contest the elections with party symbols while others will contest with symbols as assigned by the SEC.
In the 2017 panchayat polls, the ruling Biju Janata Dal had bagged 473 of 853 Zila Parishad seats, 178 less than its 2012 tally. The Bharatiya Janata Party, the key contender for power in the state, had won 297 ZP seats as against 36 it had got in 2012.
The Congress, which was then the second major political force in the state, slumped to third position by winning only 60 seats, 68 less than its 2012 figure.
The outcome of the 2022 panchayat polls, according to political analysts; assume much significance as it will come as a morale booster for all the key players ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections in the state. The BJD will try to replenish the losses it suffered in 2017. Similarly, the opposition BJP and Congress will try to improve their figures so as to project and present themselves as the alternatives to the ruling BJD, they contended.
