India, May 21 -- The State Election Commission has decided to defer the by-elections to various vacant posts in the panchayati raj institutions in view of the IMD reports predicting early onset of monsoon in Odisha.

The SEC in Odisha yesterday issued a notification for conducting by-elections to vacant posts of 1,043 ward members, 43 sarpanchs, 40 panchayat samiti members and five zilla parishad members between May 22 and June 25.

However, the district-level officials, common people and the prospective candidates informed the SEC that the by-elections could be disrupted due to the early onset of monsoon in the state.

Taking this into consideration, the SEC immediately sought a report from the IMD regional centre in the capital city h...