ECI Team’s Visit Fuels Speculation Of Early Elections in Odisha
A team from the Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to visit the state on September 13 amid discussions regarding the potential of early elections in Odisha.
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Bhubaneswar: A team from the Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to visit the state on September 13 amid discussions regarding the potential of early elections in Odisha.
Nikunja Dhal, the chief electoral officer of Odisha, stated to the media on Tuesday that all district collectors will meet with ECI officials during their visit to the state on September 13. Nine districts now have VVPAT devices. Beginning in the first week of October and continuing through November 15, all EVMs and VVPATs will be scrutinized. There is no connection between this procedure and early elections, he stated.
He added that election preparation is a difficult, drawn-out process. "We need to purchase various resources, produce and publish guides, and train personnel. According to the schedule that will be released by the ECI, we are on schedule to conduct the election.
Elections cannot be place until November 15 because EVMs and VVPATs will be checked until then, the speaker noted.
Notably, the administration and the ruling BJD had made preparations that gave credence to such a possibility.
The state cabinet held monthly meetings over the past two months to adopt a number of programs, including the NUA (Nutana Unnata Abhilasha) Odisha programme and the Mission Shakti Scooty Yojana to benefit all facets of society. Additionally, a plan to build out 4,373 unbanked gram panchayats in the state with banking facilities was approved.
Senior BJD MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy also told the media that early Assembly elections will favour the BJD as the party has the support of the people because of pro-people schemes launched by the state government.
The state unit of the Congress too has been conducting meetings with the hope to make the most of the early elections,
Former union minister and Balasore MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi, however, said that separate elections for Assembly and Lok Sabha will entail significant expenditure and hamper development works because of the imposition of a model code of conduct.
On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) might potentially conduct Lok Sabha elections as early as December, with the possibility extending to January.
Therefore, September will be crucial for Odisha since recommendation for dissolution of the state assembly has to take place next month if elections are to be held in December along with four other states.
In 2018, Telangana Assembly was dissolved for early polls in the first week of September, EC announced the poll dates in October and voting took place on December 7.
