Bhubaneswar: A day after announcing the schedule for the panchayat by-elections in Odisha, the State Election Commission today postponed it in view of the onset of the monsoon season. The State Election Commission had issued a notification yesterday to conduct the by-polls for 1043 vacant Ward Member seats, 43 vacant Sarpanch seats, 40 vacant Panchayat Samiti Member seats and 5 Zilla Parishad Member seats. As per the schedule, the poll was to commence from May 22, 2025 upto June 25, 2025. However, the commission today postponed the panchayat by-elections in view of the onset of the monsoon season and said that a fresh notification for the same will be issued once the monsoon is over. The State Election Commission issued a new notification saying the followings: Notification for by-election for 1043 Nos. of vacant Ward Member seats, 43 Nos. of vacant Sarpanch seats, 40 Nos, of vacant Panchayat Samiti Member seats and 5 Nos. of vacant Zilla Parishad Member seats have been issued on 20.05.2025 by the State Election Commission. Poll was to commence from 22.05.2025 upto 25.06.2025. Immediately, after issue of this notification, feedbacks from the District Officials, general public and the intending candidates for the by-elections have been received that because of early onset of monsoon in the State there may be disruption in the poll process and inconvenience to voters due to monsoon rain during the poll. The Commission immediately sought for a report from the IMD Regional Office, Bhubaneswar. IMD, Bhubaneswar Office reported that: “The conditions are likely to become favourable for Monsoon onset over Kerala during next 3-4 days. The conditions are also likely to become favourable for some more parts South & Central Bay of Bengal, North Bay Of Bengal and some parts of Northeastern states during the same period.” Hence, it can not be ruled out that there would be an early onset of monsoon in the State of Odisha. Keeping this in view the Commission reviewed its earlier decision and decided to defer the poll schedule for the by-election. Accordingly, the Notification for by-election is cancelled and the same would be held after the monsoon season is over.
Panchayat by-elections in Odisha postponed a day after announcement of schedule
