Odisha Civic Body Polls: Govt Releases Ward Reservation Lists For BMC, CMC & BeMC; Check Details

Bhubaneswar: The state Home and Urban Development Department on Saturday released ward reservation lists for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).

Polls are due in most urban local bodies (ULBs) since 2018. The government plans to hold them after the panchayat elections.

The department, however, did not release the ward reservation lists for Rourkela and Sambalpur as civic elections will not take place in these cities in view of pending court cases.

While releasing the ward reservation lists, the department said that people can give their suggestions or lodge complaints within 10 days. “After the due date, no suggestion or complaint will be accepted,” the notification stated.

On October 26, the state government had started the process for delimitation of wards and ward wise reservations for elections in 108 of the 115 ULBs in the state.

The state government asked district magistrates to complete the delimitation and reservation in 105 towns, municipalities and Notified Area Councils (NACs) by December 13 and three municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur by January 20.

On October 21 this year, Odisha Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal gave his assent to the Odisha Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, paving the way for the much-awaited elections.