The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that the Odisha Assembly Elections will be conducted in four phases May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. These polling dates coincide with the Lok Sabha elections. Vote counting is scheduled for June 3.
The current Odisha Legislative Assembly's tenure is set to conclude on June 2.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, alongside newly elected Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, revealed the polling schedule.
Odisha's legislative assembly comprises 147 seats and is headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Presently, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) holds 130 seats, with the remaining distributed among the BJP, Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), and one independent member.
In the previous election cycle coinciding with the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, Odisha's 16th assembly elections were conducted between April 11 and April 29, resulting in the election of 147 members. The Biju Janata Dal secured 112 seats, enabling Naveen Patnaik to continue as Chief Minister for a fifth consecutive term.
Following behind were the BJP with 23 seats and Congress with 9, while the remaining seats were won by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and an independent candidate.
