BHUBANESWAR: As the preparation for the panchayat polls is almost over, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday said that the dates will be announced very soon.
The polls will likely be announced in the last week of this month and held in February next year. Elections will have to be held by March, 2022, as the term of all the Panchayati Raj institutions will be over by that time.
The SEC said that the final voters' list will be published on December 16. Polling will be held with party symbols for 853 zilla parishads. Elections in 91,916 wards and 6,794 panchayats will be conducted on non-party basis.
The Commission said additional ballot boxes are being procured from neighbouring states as elections will be held by adhering to COVID-19 guidelines. For the first time, central counting will be done for the panchayat elections.
Earlier, counting was done at the polling booths. Reservation of seats at the ward, panchayat and ZP levels has already been finalised and published. Besides, the SEC has raised the expenditure limit for candidates contesting the elections.
However, the Opposition BJP and Congress have criticised the State government over the reservation of seats which they allege has many discrepancies. Alleging that the reservation of seats has been done to favour the ruling BJD, the Opposition has demanded that it should be scrapped.