Panchayat election in Odisha

A study of Panchayat Election in Odisha

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Panchayat Election in Orissa: An Overview

GOPALPUR, a rural town of about 3,000 population, situated on the road side
two miles to the south of Ranpur garb, is the headquarters of Gopalpur Gram
Panchayat. This panchayat is composed of 24 wards with a population of ahout
6,000. Dimiria. a village of about 200 people, to which the writer belongs, is
included under the Gram Panchayat. With it two other neighbouring villages,
Nilamonipur and Nabagha-uapur, arc joined to make a ward of the Gram
Panchayat. The number of this ward is 24 and it contains 260 voters.

The candidates stood for the vacant seat. One was the old member of the Gram
Panchayat who had been returned uncontested at the last election. The other
candidate belongs to Nabaghanapur and is closely related to the old candidate as
Sam-adi
: the former's son has married the latler's daughter. Roth the candidates
belong to the Sudra caste which represents about 63 per cent of the total voters in
the ward. The voting population is analysed by caste in the Table below.

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POLLING STATION AND POLLING Dimiria with 177 voters is the biggest of
the three villages which make up the constituency. Nabaghanapur and
Nilamonipur have 52 and 31 voters respectively. The polling booth was placed in
Dimiria. The village shrine which lies in the centre of the village was taken over
for the booth. The old candidate had a white box and the new candidate a yellow
box. Polling time was between 1 pip and 3 pm on the 19th August 1959.
The writer would like to thank Professor A Aiyappan arid Dr. F G Bailey.for their
criticisms of an earlier draft of this artinle..
The Presiding Officer and his as-sistants arrived punctually and the voters—men
and women—gathered in small numbers. As the crowd was not very big there
were no difficulties in polling. The women were made to form a queue but the
men were more casual, some sitting on the near-by verandah and some standing
round the table of the Presiding Officer, almost blocking the passage to the
polling enclosure and talking noisily to one another. The women with their veils
drawn down completely covering I heir faces, stood in a line waiting for their
turn. When their names were read out by the Presiding Officer they signalled
their agreement by nodding their heads. Many women, in spite of their veils, were
loo shy even to nod their head when their names were called. In these cases their
relatives and the villagers helped the Presiding Officer to identify them.
At the end of the poll the boxes were opened in the presence of the candidates
and the villagers and the voles were counted. The old member who belongs to
Dimiria got 141 votes and was declared elected. The other candidate got 90
voles. After a short lime a procession marched along the streets of the villages
with drums beating. Mags Hying, and shouts of 'Jai' in honour of the old
member. The candidate who won the election marched with I hem dressed in his
best and garlanded.

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FACTIONS IN THE VILLAGE
This is not the whole story of the election. We have also to ask why the old
member won and why a rival candidate was set up against him. Before these two
points are analysed it is necessary to discuss village politics and the people of the
constituency in general and of Dimiria in particular, in order to understand the
particular role of factions in the village. There are three factions in Dimiria. The
potters are one and the Sudras bearing Mahapatra surname another. The rest of
the villagers, with the exception of a few who are neutral or not actively engaged
in faction, make the third group. The Mahapatra faction is the youngest, having
originated a year ago; the other two factions have been in existence since 1953.
The factions of the potters grew out of a dispute between them and the
washermen. At the time of marriage in every clean caste house a potter's wheel is
worshipped. A potter's wife, preferably an old woman, comes with the wheel and
in' stalls it in the house where the marriage is performed. Then seven women
belonging to the house and agnalically-related groups throw flowers on it and
worship it. Thereafter the poster's wife is given her share of presents in the form
of un-cooked food and the wheel is returned to her after the rite is over. The
potters are obliged to do this in the house of washermen. Though the washermen
are untouchable, the potters have nevertheless been performing this rite since
bygone days.
In this village the women, especially young unmarried girls, perform a rite
known as Khudurkuni. This festival is observed on every Sunday in the month of
Rhadrab i August-September). The goddess Mangala is worshipped on this
occasion and the myth underlying the performance is a trading voyage which is
said to have been undertaken by seven brothers to far off countries. The festival
is performed at three places in Dimiria, one jointly among the potters and
washermen at one end of the village, the second by a section of the people in the
middle of the village, and the third one by the people at the other end of the
village.

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CHANGING ALIGNMENTS :
Thus the new washerman conti-nued serving the potters for about a year till there arose a dispute
relating to usufruct of a mango grove belonging to Mahapatra and Patnaik families of this village.
The members of Mahapatra and Patnaik families are related to one another by agnatic kinship.
But they have been living separately for a long time. In this case some of the Patnaik families
tried to deprive the Mahapatra families of their share in the mango grove. They pleaded that as
the villagers watch the trees they are entitled to get a share of the fruits and that the Mahapatra
families have no right over the disputed property. But the Mahapatra families pleaded that they,
along with Patnaik families, watch the trees and no one else in the village has ever watched the
trees, nor has got any share at any lime. The Patnaik families joined together and fought against
the Mahapatra group. The potters did not side with any group and remained neutral. The headman
of the Patnaik family who arranged the new washerman for the potters was angry with the potters
for their neutrality and instructed the washerman to discontinue service in potters' families, taking
on himself the responsibility of paying him his salary from the village fund. Thus three groups
were formed in the village: (1) the potters, (2) the Mahapatras, and (3) the Patnaik families, the
washermen and the rest of the villagers. The old member of the Gram Panchayat is included in
the Patnaik group.
The case concerning the mango grove grew complicated and finally was taken to court where the
decision was given in favour of the Patnaik family. To win the case all the court expenses were
met from the village fund, as it was under the control of the old member. This made the potters
and Mahapatras furious and, after the case, the Mahapatras and the potters joined together as one
group, while the Patnaiks and washermen and the rest of the villagers remained as the other
group. Therefore, at the time of election there were two factions in the village. In the election the
Patnaik group chose the old member as their candidate and the potters and the Mahapatras
nominated a new man.

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INFLUENCE OF BOND FRIENDSHIP :
The potters and the Mahapatras were sure that the new candidate would be supported by the
voters indicated in Diagram 1. In addition to these ties bond-friendship of various kinds
(sahi,sangata, samadi and maitra) played an important role. Gadei, son of Paramananda Barika
of house number 23, who is on the side of Patnaik group, is related as sangata to Mahanta son of
Ananda Swain of house number 40 who is aggrieved having been involved in a civil case by the
villagers. Gadei sided with the party to which his sangata Mahan'a belonged. Agadhu son of
Sonei Barika of house number 22, who is on the side of the villagers, is related as sangata to
Surendra, the younger brother of the Mahapatra's leader of house number 36. He favoured the
side which his sangata favoured.
House number 44 favoured the potters' group as the members of the family are cultivating some
land which is under the management of one of the members of the Maha-patra group. But in
many cases bond friendship did not work at all. For example one of the leaders of the Patnaik
group is related to the leader of the potters' group. Their wives are also related to each other as
sangat. But their relationship did not close the gap that exists between the villagers and the
potters, because after the Mahapatras supported the potters the leader of the Patnaik group, who is
at enemity with the leader of the Mahapatra group, became enemy also to the leader of the
potters. In many cases an enemy's friend also becomes an enemy.
Thinking that there were so many families related to the new candidate and that there was every
likelihood of getting their support in the election, the leaders of the potters and Mahapatras set
him up as their candidate. Thus the new candidate met his relatives privately and besought their
favour. The old-member party, being at first confident of success, did not resort to these tactics.
Later they took measures to combat them. (Sec 'Taking an oath' below.) The potters and the
Mahapatras also helped him. They approached their bond-friends with whom they are
accustomed to exchange food on festive occasions and requested them to vote in favour of their
candidate. Bond-friend-ship cuts across the factional divisions and binds people belonging to
different villages regardless of caste and economic condition. Diagram' 2 (below) shows the
bond-friendship ties that bind people to each other. It also shows how complicated this system is.
Yet this system is an important determinant of behaviour. The analysis reveals that eleven male
members and ten females of potter families have bond-friendship with ninteen villagers, four

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members of Mahapatras, three of Patnaiks and one washerman family. Secondly, leaving apart
the potters, about thirty-four persons are interrelated with each other through bond-friendship
ties. Of this number fifteen belong to the villagers group, seven to the washerman group, six to
the barber group, two to harijans (the village watchman who is included in the villagers" group),
three to the Mahapatra and one to the Patnaik group. Eleven persons are actually related by
marriage. One belongs to the Mahapatra group and the others to the villagers' group (leaving out
the Patnaiks).
Thenumbered rectangular blocks represent individual houses. The number given below each
block is the number of the house, and the number within the block is the number of voters present
in that particular house. In the bottom row there are 26 houses and the upper row 33 houses. The
house number 60 where there are three voters is the house of the village choukidar who lives at
the outskirt of the village. The rectangular block placed in the centre of the street represents the
ballot box of the new candidate. The lines joining the blocks of houses on both the rows to the
ballot box shows the potters' families and the Mahapatras who set the new man against the old
member. The arrow-marked lines show the houses with which the new candidate has kinship lies
through blood and marriage relationship. The lines marked with arrows at both ends show the
houses which favoured the new candidate for motives of self interest and as secret rivals of the
Patnaik group.

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Odisha panchayat election dates have been announced. The complete
schedule has been made available to the public. State election
commission(SEC) on 28th december made the announcement. As per the
election commission, odisha panchayat chunav will be held in 5 phases.
The election will be held on 13th,15th,17th,19th and 21st of February 2017.
The timing of polling is 7 am to 12:oo pm. The counting of votes will start
from 1 pm till the completion.
Voters and politicians are both equally excited about the upcoming state
panchayat elections in Odisha. The Odisha Gram Panchayat elections are
going to be held in February 2017 when the present panchayat will end its
term. This means that the whole state will be roaring with election
campaign and preparations in the coming days. The excitement in the
general population is obvious as they get to decide who is capable of
holding power for the next panchayat term. voters do this by basing their
preferences on the performance and history of the candidates who have
previously held power. These Gram Panchayat elections will decide the
fate of all the contesting candidates.
The posts to be filled after the elections are Sarpanch, Panch,Ward
Members, Zila Parishad Members & Others.

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LATEST NEWS OF ODISHA PANCHAYAT
ELECTIONS 2017:
Latest Updates –
 Election Schedule Launched on 28th December 2016
 elections to posts of sarpanch and 23 ward members of the Dhinkia gram
panchayat in Jagatsinghpur’s Ersama block will not be held as per orders of the
Orissa High Court. Similarly, polling for six gram panchayats including Parjang
[Dehnaknal], Dasarathpur [Jajpur], Kolabira and Laikera [Jharsuguda],
Bhawanipatna [Kalahandi] and Rengali [Sambalpur] have not been notified for
similar reasons.
 Election Name – Gram Panchayat Elections in State of Odisha in Year 2017
 Concerned Department – Election Commission of Odisha
 Panchayat Election Posts – Sarpanch, Panch, Ward Members, Zila Parishad
Members & Others
 Total Seats – 853 zilla Parishad seats,6801 seats in Panchayat samitis, 6802
sarpanch seats and 92029 ward members
 Official Notification Release Date – 27th December 2016
 Nominations – Nominations to be filled from 11th January to 17th January
 Last date of withdrawal of Nominations & List of Candidates – 21st January
 Polling Dates- 13,15,17,19,21 February 2017.
 Number of Eligible Voters – 2.6 Crore
 Date of Announcement of Result – Updating soon
India is a democratic country and the panchayat elections simply
reflect the democratic basis function at the grassroots. during the
elections all the local and national parties that operate in Odisha will
be releasing the details about the members that will be contesting on
their behalf. These candidate lists and nominations will begin in the

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next few days when the official notification inviting the same is
released from the election commission. In the last panchayat elections
in 2012, approximately 2.5 crore voters elected leaders to various posts
in the state. The elections were for 1,00,841 seats of Sarpanch, Ward
Members, Nominees and members of Zilla Parishad. This year too it is
expected that all the voters in the state will appear for the panchayat
elections and cast their valuable vote to favour their preferred
candidate.
The Process of the whole elections process is as –
Election Commission Releases Notification >> Nominations are filed >> Elections
Conducted >> Result Declared
In this year’s gram panchayat elections of Odisha, BJP is expected to make a come-
back. after the party secured a good majority in the last elections, thanks to the
Modi-wave, they have been constantly in controversies. In order to redeem their
positions again this year, BJP will be changing its campaign to build its reputation
back in the state. BJP will be fighting against the strong opposition of Biju Janta
Dal (BJD). in addition to reforming its campaign and arranging protests over local
issues, the party is also trying to focus more on the tribal areas in the state.

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ODISHA PANCHAYAT ELECTION SCHEDULE 2017 –
ELECTION DATES & TIMING:
Once the panchayat releases the official notification about the gram panchayat
elections of Odisha for the upcoming year,the same will be updated on the official
website of the panchayat elections. Like last year this year too about 1 lakh seats
will be filled through these elections. the elections are to be conducted in 5 phases in
February 2017. The timing of polling is from 8 am to 12:00 pm
1st Phase -13th February 2017
2nd Phase -15th February 2017
3rd Phase -17th February 2017
4th Phase -19th February 2017
5th Phase – 21st February 2017
ODISHA PANCHAYAT CHUNAV OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION;
To check all recent updates on the matter you can visit the official website
of you can follow the leading new channels and newspapers for regular
updates. Visit the site www.odishapanchayat.gov.in and look for the
section on Panchayat elections 2017. The official notification has been
made available from 27th December 2016.

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CONCLUSION
Panchayati Raj empowered the the marginalised people in the remote
villages to make planning of their villages. On 24th April 1993, the
Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act 1992 came into force to provide
constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions. Under this
provision Panchayat elections at the local level held every five years.
India have long tradition of village level panchayats since ancient times.
Ancient scriptures have several mention of Panchayat system.There is now
a separate ministry in Central and State governments.
The Act provided a 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States and to
hold Panchayat elections regularly every 5 years. It has provision of seats
reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women; to appoint
a State Finance Commission to make recommendations regarding the
financial powers of the Panchayats and to constitute a District Planning
Committee, to prepare a development plan draft for the district.
There is three tier system in Panchayati Raj. At the lowest, Village level
Panchayats ( Gram Sabha) is directly elected by villagers. They elect their
Gram Pradhan. Above village there is provision of Block level Panchayats.
Block Pramukh is elected by Gram Pradhans and elected members at the
village level. Next stage is District level Panchayat which is called Zila
Parishad.
Presently, the Panchayati Raj system exists in all the states except few like
Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram and in all Union Territories except
Delhi.