Announcement of the election calendar

The Rajasthan State Election Commission is set to reveal the Panchayati Raj election programme on Saturday, 3 October, at 3 p.m. The proclamation will automatically trigger the Model Code of Conduct throughout the state’s village constituencies.

Four‑phase voting plan

While officials have hinted at a four‑stage rollout, the exact dates for each phase will be confirmed only after the formal declaration.

Timeline for nominations

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

Voting methods

Different posts will be contested using distinct voting mechanisms. Sarpanch and ward‑panch candidates 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

Nearly 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
  • Approximately 1.30 lakh ward‑panch positions
  • 41 Zila Pramukh and 457 Panchayat Samiti Pradhan seats

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

Reservation snapshot

Women’s reservation stays at 50 % across every tier. The specific allocations are:

  • Around 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)

For ward‑panch positions, 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 next

The definitive polling dates and phase‑wise arrangements will become official once the Rajasthan State Election Commission publishes the complete election schedule.