Civic polls to follow 2021 ward map
PANAJI
The Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) has decided not to undertake delimitation of municipal wards for the upcoming civic elections, following the State government’s decision to freeze the boundaries of all administrative units from December 31, 2025.
As a result, the municipal elections scheduled for April 2026 will be conducted as per the ward delimitation notified in 2021. The decision also applies to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), whose boundaries will remain unchanged for the forthcoming March polls.
Ahead of Census 2027, the State government, in October, announced the freezing of boundaries of municipalities, villages and Assembly constituencies from December 31, 2025, till March 31, 2027. The Directorate of Planning had clarified that “the boundaries of administrative units for Census 2027 shall be frozen as on December 31, 2025”.
A senior DMA official said that no delimitation exercise would be carried out for the upcoming municipal elections. “The polls will take place as per the existing delimitation, which was notified ahead of the 2021 elections,” the official said, adding that the jurisdiction of the Panaji City Corporation will also remain untouched.
The official further noted that the government had earlier considered increasing the number of wards in ‘A’ class municipalities from 25 to 27. “However, this change will now be taken up before the 2031 municipal elections,” the official said.
In all, elections to 11 municipalities across Goa are expected to be held in April 2026, while the polls to the CCP are scheduled for March.
The Directorate of Census Operations (DCO) has imposed a ban on any changes to the boundaries of districts, towns, villages and tehsils after December 31, in view of the forthcoming census exercise.
The reference date for Population Census 2027 in Goa has been fixed as March 1, 2027. The census will be conducted in two phases. The first phase, involving house-listing operations to prepare a comprehensive inventory of all buildings, structures and housing units in the State, will begin from April 1, 2026. The second phase, which includes population enumeration or headcount, will commence from February 2027 onwards.
