Election Commission announces Odisha panchayat polls dates

The Odisha Election Commission on Tuesday announced dates for panchayat polls in the state. As per the notification issued by the commission, the elections will be held for the posts of 853 Zilla Parishad Members, 6802 Sarpanchs, 6801 Panchayat Samiti members and 92,052 ward members in five phases on February 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21 respectively.

State Election Commissioner Rabi Narayan Senapati said aspiring candidates can file nominations between January 11 and 17 and the scrutiny of the papers will be done on January 18. He said casting of votes would take place from 7 AM to 12 noon and counting of votes will be done from 1 PM onwards on these days. Around 2, 60, 92, 507 voters will exercise their franchise in the elections.