Odisha: Election commission begins process to conduct urban local body polls
India Today
The state election commission has started the process of conducting urban local body elections in Odisha with the finalisation of seat reservation process for various civic bodies.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has started the process of conducting elections for over 100 urban local bodies (ULBs) in Odisha, delayed by around three years. The preparations began after the district collectors submitted delimitation and reservation lists and the SEC released those, reported PTI.
Notably, the elections to the ULBs have not been conducted since 2018 despite the tenures being expired three years ago. Officials told PTI that that the polls will be held in three municipal corporations, 48 municipalities and 59 notified area councils (NACs).
State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi said that all the district collectors have submitted the delimitation and reservation lists to the commission. Padhi said that the state government has also produced the delimitation and reservation lists of three municipal corporations.
He said that the process of holding the ULB polls can be started now, adding that the commission has set a timeline for preparations for the final electoral, most probably by this month-end.
There will be no addition of new names to the voter list as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has revised the electoral roll on January 1. The commissioner said that the SEC will soon carry out revision of the electoral roll.
Padhi was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "We will use the recently-revised voters' list and split it ward-wise." (sic)
If the name of a voter, figured in the assembly-wise electoral roll, is not present during preparation of ward-wise electoral roll, then it can be restored, he said. He further added that if the name of a voter from a particular ward is mistakenly added in another ward, then it can be added.
