Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Election 2022: Stage set for Phase 1 voting on June 25

The election assumes significance as it is being seen as a high-stakes semifinal ahead of the November 2023 Madhya Pradesh assembly election.

The polling for phase 1 of the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat elections will be held on June 25. The State Election Commission (SEC) had announced that the Panchayat elections would be conducted in three phases between June 25 to July 8. 

Campaigning for the first phase of Panchayat polls ended on June 23. On June 25, the polling will be conducted between 7 am and 3 pm. However, the Election Commission has clarified that voting will not be undertaken using Electronic Voting Machines but rather using ballot papers. The Panchayat election results will be declared on July 14 and 15.

To note, there are 875 district Panchayat members, 6771 Janpad Panchayat members, 22,921 Sarpanches and 3,63,726 Panches. In the first phase, voting is to be held for 115 Janpad Panchayats, more than 8700 Gram Panchayats. Following State Election Commission Secretary Rakesh Singh's directives, liquor shops have been shut down till the end of polling. 

This is the first time the state will witness back-to-back elections, with local body elections being held along with the Panchayat elections. This situation arose because of the delay in holding both Panchayat elections, which were last held in the state in 2014, and local body elections, which last happened in 2015.

Part of the cause of the delay was the downfall of the Kamal Nath government followed by the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The local body elections, scheduled to be held on July 6 and July 13, will cover 298 Nagar Parishads, 99 Nagar Palika Parishads and 16 municipal corporations. The first phase of counting of votes will be undertaken on July 17 and the second phase on July 18. 

The two elections assume significance as they are being seen as high-stakes semifinals ahead of the November 2023 assembly elections.

The BJP is testing a new formula in these elections, that of denying tickets to relatives of party leaders and those with criminal records. The Congress party too seems to be testing the idea of denying tickets to tainted candidates.