Election calendar to be disclosed
The Rajasthan State Election Commission is set to publish the Panchayati Raj election programme on Saturday, 3 October, at 3 p.m. The announcement will automatically trigger the Model Code of Conduct throughout the state’s villages.
Phased voting plan
The commission has hinted at a four‑phase rollout, but the exact dates for each phase will be confirmed only after the official release.
Nomination schedule
District collectors are expected to issue the election notifications around 5‑6 October. Once the notices are out, the nomination window will open shortly thereafter. The full timetable—including dates for filing nominations, scrutiny, withdrawals and the actual polling—will be detailed in the commission’s comprehensive programme.
Voting methods
Different posts will be elected using different voting mechanisms. Sarpanches and ward‑panch members will vote on paper ballots, while Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad members will be chosen through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The statutory 50 % reservation for women in every Panchayati Raj tier remains intact.
Scale of the exercise
Overall, close to 1.69 lakh representatives will be elected across Rajasthan. The breakdown includes:
- 1,403 Zila Parishad members
- 8,245 Panchayat Samiti members
- 14,403 gram panchayats covering sarpanch and ward‑panch positions
- Approximately 1.30 lakh ward‑panch seats
- 41 Zila Pramukh and 457 Panchayat Samiti Pradhan posts
Among the top‑level posts, 20 Zila Pramukh and 221 Pradhan seats are earmarked for women.
Reservation overview
Women’s reservation continues at 50 % across all levels. Specific allocations are:
- ~7,200 sarpanch seats reserved for women
- ~65,000 ward‑panch seats reserved for women
Category‑wise reservation for sarpanch posts:
- 3,058 seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST)
- 2,493 seats for Scheduled Castes (SC)
- 1,961 seats for Other Backward Classes (OBC)
For ward‑panch posts, the reservation distribution includes:
- 21,962 seats for SC
- 19,117 seats for ST
- ≈15,000 seats for OBC
In the districts of Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh and Salumbar, all 1,253 sarpanch seats are reserved for the ST category.
What follows
The exact polling dates and phase‑wise arrangements will become official once the Rajasthan State Election Commission publishes the complete election schedule.
