Bhubaneswar: A day after state BJP president Manmohan Samal hinted at early elections to the three-tier panchayat system in Odisha, State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi on Sunday asserted that the polls will be conducted only after the existing rural bodies complete their five-year term.
Padhi explained that the panchayat elections have not yet been scheduled, and any decision on this will be taken at an appropriate time in accordance with constitutional provisions. He, however, said that necessary groundwork, including identification of polling booths and availability of ballot boxes, has begun at the sub-division level. He added that meetings with district coll
ectors were conducted over the last 10 to 12 days to assess initial preparations and streamline the preparatory steps required for holding the elections.
The last rural polls were held in the state in five phases starting from February 16, 2022, and the next elections are due in 2027.
Speaking to party functionaries and elected local representatives on Saturday, Samal indicated that the elections are likely to be advanced, possibly two to three months ahead of the census exercise, which would be conducted across the state in February next year. He urged party workers to complete unfinished development works within this timeframe. “We must win every block, every panchayat, every zilla parishad, and every ward. BJP needs to build leadership at all levels,” he said.
The first phase of the 2027 Census — the house-listing operations — will be conducted over a 30-day period chosen by each State and Union Territory, sometime between April 1 and September 30, 2026. The second phase, which involves actual population enumeration, is scheduled for February 2027.