After winning the 2019 Assembly elections with a thumping majority, the BJD Government’s lack of interest to conduct the urban local body (ULB) polls has raised questions over the reason.
 
Elections to the ULBs have been deferred as the State Government has failed to complete the process of reservation and delimitation of seats despite a direction from the Supreme Court in this regard. Tenure of 101 civic bodies out of the total 114 is over and the Government has appointed administrators in these bodies.
However, there seems to be other reasons behind the delay in conducting the ULB polls. Results of the recent Assembly elections may throw some light on the reasons.Though the BJD won 112 Assembly seats, there was cause for concern over the party’s performance in urban areas.