GORAKHPUR, July 20 -- Following directives from principal secretary, Panchayati Raj, Anil Kumar, district authorities have initiated the process of delimitation and restructuring of wards for the Panchayat elections scheduled in 2026. The directive, issued on Friday to the director, Panchayati Raj and all district magistrates, outlines a detailed programme for the repositioning and creation of new wards based on updated population data. The directive states that due to the expansion of municipal corporations and the creation of new town areas and municipalities, the composition of wards in village panchayats has changed. As a result, the process of delimitation and formation of new wards has been set in motion. As per the step-wise programme, officials have been instructed to identify wards based on approximately equal population from July 18 to 25. The reconstituted ward list will be prepared between July 23 and 28. Objections will be invited until August 5, and the final list of newly delimited wards will be published between August 6 and 10.ADM (finance and revenue) Vineet Kumar Singh said that 21 new panchayats have been formed across three blocks in the Gorakhpur district. The electoral lists for these wards will be updated accordingly. He added that 1,850 booth level officers (BLOs) and 200 supervisors will be deployed to complete the process.Officials from the Panchayati Raj department stated that the names of voters from village panchayats that have been upgraded to town areas will be removed from the village voter list. The village panchayat wards will be reconstituted, and the total number of village panchayats in the district is expected to decrease from 1,294 to 1,274 in the upcoming elections.htc...