Nationwide Strike on February 12 Against Power Sector Privatization, Engineers Warn of Immediate Action if Bill Tabled

 

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Municipal Elections 2026 Announced in Lohardaga, Polling on February 23

Lohardaga: The State Election Commission has officially announced the schedule for the Municipal (General) Elections–2026. In this regard, the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer (Municipal), Dr. Tarachand, shared detailed information during a press conference.

The District Election Officer informed that under the Municipal (General) Election–2026, the election notification in Form-5 will be published on January 28, 2026, at 11:00 AM. The nomination filing process will commence from January 29 and continue till February 4, 2026, between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on February 5, 2026, while candidates may withdraw their nominations on February 6, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

Election symbols will be allotted on February 7, 2026.

Polling will be held on February 23, 2026 (Monday) from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and counting of votes will take place on February 27, 2026 (Friday) from 8:00 AM at the Agricultural Market Committee premises in Lohardaga. For smooth conduct of the election, 13 different election cells have been constituted.

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43,070 Voters in Lohardaga Municipal Council

In Municipal Council (Category-B), elections will be conducted for one Municipal Council Chairperson and 23 Ward Councillor posts. A total of 46 polling stations have been set up across the municipality, catering to 43,070 voters.

Among the voters, 21,027 are male and 22,043 are female. Of the 46 polling stations, 31 have been declared sensitive and 15 highly sensitive.

The NOTA option will not be available in this election. Voting will be conducted through ballot papers, for which 110 ballot boxes have already been prepared.

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Election Expenditure Limit Fixed

As Lohardaga falls under Category-B Municipal Council with a population below one lakh, the maximum election expenditure limit has been fixed at ₹6 lakh for Chairperson candidates.

For Ward Councillor candidates, the expenditure limit has been set at ₹1.5 lakh.

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Returning Officers Appointed

• Chairperson Post: Additional Collector, Lohardaga – Jitendra Munda
• Ward Nos. 1 to 6: Deputy Collector, Land Reforms – Sujata Kujur
• Ward Nos. 7 to 12: District Supply Officer – Manish Kumar
• Ward Nos. 13 to 18: Executive Magistrate – Abhinet Suraj
• Ward Nos. 19 to 23: Block Development Officer, Kairo – Chhanda Bhattacharya

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Officials Present in Press Conference

The press conference was attended by Superintendent of Police Sadik Anwar Rizvi, Additional Collector Jitendra Munda, Sub-Divisional Officer Amit Kumar, Deputy Election Officer Pramod Das, Panchayati Raj Officer Anjana Das, Deputy Collector (Land Reforms) Sujata Kujur, District Supply Officer Manish Kumar, and Block Development Officer, Kairo Chhanda Bhattacharya, among other officials.