Keeping in view the steady decline in the rate of transmission and number of cases of COVID-19, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday lifted the restrictions imposed for campaigning for the urban local body (ULB) polls.

It is pertinent to note here that the State on Monday reported 120 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily infection in 2022, and did not report fresh death with the test positivity rate remaining low at 0.27%.

Elections to 47 municipalities, 59 notified area councils, and three municipal corporations will be held on March 24 and the results will be declared on March 26.

Candidates and political parties are allowed to campaign without the COVID-19 curbs. The SEC’s announcement made today thus gave go-ahead for the conduct of road shows, padyatra, processions and cycle rallies without prescribing the maximum number of participants.

The restrictions imposed have been withdrawn in view of the fall in covid cases. In the event, the cases rise, the commission may revise its decision to reinforce the Covid curbs, the State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi told reporters here today.

The exercise for the filing of nominations will continue till 3 PM today. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on 9 March. The polling will be held on March 24 with the counting of votes and declaration of results on March 26. The Commission will engage more polling personnel for the smooth conduct of the the polls as there will be two EVMs in each booth– one for the election of Councillor/Corporator and another for Chairperson/ Mayor, he said adding that There will be NOTA option in the ULB elections for the first time in Odisha.

Over 27 lakh voters are eligible to cast their exercise franchise at 3,030 booths in 1,731 wards of the 106 Urban Local Bodies.

On the other hand, polling will be held at 1,407 booths in 168 wards of three municipal corporations–  Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC). Around 14.26 lakh voters are eligible to vote at the 3 municipal corporations.

The SEC has made the provision for three strong rooms for the safe custody of EVMs- one to store EVMs of Councillor/Corporator, the other to store EVMs of Chairperson/Mayor, and the third to store reserved EVMs.