The Odisha government said the 2026 Puri Rath Yatra concluded peacefully despite continuous rain, with nearly 8–9 lakh devotees participating. It clarified that two devotees who died during the festival were not victims of a stampede or crowd management failure, adding that extensive safety and emergency arrangements were in place.

The draft electoral rolls published after the Special Intensive Revision show over 20 lakh names deleted in Odisha, while Manipur and Sikkim also reported thousands of exclusions.