Bhubaneswar, Apr 5 (IANS): Following completion of the panchayat and urban polls, the Odisha government is going to hold election for cooperative bodies functioning in the state.

Election will be held in three phases. In the first phase, election will be held for 7,076 primary cooperative societies, while 132 central societies will go to polls in the second phase and thirdly, polls will be conducted for 21 apex societies functioning in the state, Odisha cooperative election commissioner Sundarlal Seal said here on Tuesday.

The first phase election to the primary cooperative societies will be held on June 19 and June 26, he said. However, the date for the second and third phase election has not been finalised yet.

On Monday, the state government had issued notification calling upon the primary co-operative societies to elect members of the committees of such societies in accordance with the provisions of the Odisha Co-operative Societies Act, 1962 and the rules made thereunder.

About 3,892 election officers will be appointed for the poll. There are over 30 lakh members in the primary societies, who will vote in the poll, Seal said.

Following the election of primary members, the election for president and then vice-president posts of the societies will be conducted in a 15 days gap, he informed.

Election to the three-tier cooperative societies including farmers, weavers, fishermen, and milkmen societies is due after completion of the tenure of the elected management in 2020.