Even after opposition parties of BJP and Congress protesting to delay the panchayat election due to the rise of COVID 19 cases in Odisha as well as India, it has been reported that the Odisha Election Commission will announce the dates of Panchayat polls today.
Earlier on Saturday, Odisha government had issued Gazette notifications calling upon the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the State to elect their members. The 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj consists Zilla Parishad at the district level (ZP), Panchayat Samiti at the block level (PS) and Grama Panchayat at the village level (GP).
However the party members of Congress and BJP have been trying to shift the dates of the election dates of rural areas for quite a while now. Not only the reason is because of the sudden spurge of rise in COVID cases and Odisha and India being into the grip of COVID third wave, but also because of lack of reservation for ST and OBC candidates. The demands were placed at the all-party meeting called by the SEC. The ruling BJD, however, insisted on holding the elections on time.
