Odisha to Hold Elections to 24 New Urban Bodies by June-end

Bhubaneswar: Odisha will complete elections to 24 newly constituted urban local bodies (ULBs) by the end of June, State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi said on Wednesday.

The timeline follows the statutory requirement to conclude elections within six months of notifying any new municipal area.

The state government had issued notifications on December 31 creating 24 new Notified Area Councils (NACs) and municipalities, setting the electoral process in motion.

Addressing a review meeting in Ganjam district, Padhi said all preparatory work, including delimitation of wards and reservation of seats, must be completed within 30 days of the notification. Once this is done, the State Election Commission (SEC) will prepare the electoral rolls and initiate the election process. He added that the SEC has formally communicated to the state government its intent to complete the exercise within the mandated timeframe, with results expected by June-end, followed by inaugural meetings of the newly elected bodies.

Last month, the Housing and Urban Development Department notified 24 new urban bodies, including 19 NACs across districts such as Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Khurda, Koraput and Mayurbhanj. Municipalities were also created at Bissamcuttack in Rayagada, Bamra and Rengali in Sambalpur, and Birmaharajpur in Sonepur.

With these additions, Odisha’s total number of ULBs has increased from 115 to 139, comprising 86 NACs, 48 municipalities and five municipal corporations.