Bhubaneswar: The State Election Commission (SEC) announced the schedule for the Panchayat Polls in Odisha on Tuesday.
Speaking about the schedule, State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi informed that the three-tier elections will be held in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. Counting will take place at Block, Sadar level on February 26, 27 and 28.
The notification for the polls will be released on January 13.
Candidates can file their nominations from February 17 to 21, while scrutiny of papers will be done on February 22. The last date for the withdrawal of nomination is February 25, informed Padhi.
In view of surge in Covid-19 cases across the state, rallies, public meetings are banned. Only digital and virtual campaigning will be allowed, he added.
“Only five people will be allowed for door-to-door campaign. No victory processes will be allowed. Only vaccinated and Covid-19 negative people will only be allowed inside the counting centers,” he informed.
The polls will be held in 91,913 wards under 6,794 panchayats in 29 out of 30 districts of the State.
The SEC official further informed that the elections for Naib Sarpanch will be held on March 11, whereas Panchayat Samiti Chairman election will be held on March 12 and Zilla Parishad Chairman on March 13.
Though elections dates have been announced, BJP and Congress parties have demanded to postpone the elections in view of rising Covid cases.