Announcement of the election calendar

The Rajasthan State Election Commission is set to publish the Panchayati Raj election programme on Saturday, 3 October, at 3 p.m. The release will automatically trigger the Model Code of Conduct for every rural constituency in the state.

Four‑phase polling plan

While the commission has confirmed that voting will be conducted in four phases, the exact dates for each phase will be disclosed only after the official timetable is released.

Nomination and notification schedule

District collectors are expected to issue the formal election notifications around 5‑6 October. Once the notices are out, the window for filing nominations will open shortly thereafter. The complete calendar—including dates for nomination filing, scrutiny, withdrawal and the actual polling—will be detailed in the commission’s full programme.

Voting mechanisms for different posts

Seats will be filled using two distinct voting systems. Candidates for sarpanch and ward‑panch positions will be elected on paper ballots, whereas members of Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads will be chosen through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The statutory 50 % reservation for women in all Panchayati Raj bodies remains unchanged.

Magnitude of the exercise

Approximately 1.69 lakh representatives will be elected across Rajasthan. The breakdown is as follows:

  • 1,403 members of Zila Parishads
  • 8,245 members of Panchayat Samitis
  • 14,403 gram panchayats covering sarpanch and ward‑panch posts
  • Around 1.30 lakh ward‑panch seats
  • 41 Zila Pramukh and 457 Panchayat Samiti Pradhan positions

Among the top‑tier posts, 20 Zila Pramukh and 221 Pradhan seats are earmarked for women.

Women’s reservation snapshot

Women continue to enjoy a 50 % reservation across every level. The allocation looks like this:

  • Approximately 7,200 sarpanch seats reserved for women
  • About 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)

Reservation distribution for ward‑panch posts:

  • 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 next

The definitive polling dates and the phase‑wise schedule will become official once the Rajasthan State Election Commission releases the full election programme.