Bhubaneswar: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar began his three-day tour of Odisha on Saturday, and described the booth-level officers (BLOs), whom he will meet later, as the “pillars of the election process”.
Soon after his arrival with family at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar, the CEC proceeded to Puri for ‘darshan’ of the sibling deities — Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath.
“I have come to Odisha with my family to have darshan of Lord Jagannath, to understand and experience the local culture, and also to meet our booth-level officers, who are the pillars of our election process. We will be in Odisha for two to three days,” Kumar told reporters in Bhubaneswar.
In Puri, the CEC and his family offered prayers at Shree Jagannath Temple. The CEC visited the 12th century shrine under tight security. Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhee accompanied him during the visit.
Kumar is also scheduled to visit Konark Sun Temple on Saturday. Later, he is slated to visit several heritage and cultural sites, including Raghurajpur village, renowned for ‘Patachitra’ paintings, Dhauli Shanti Stupa, the twin hill complexes of Khandagiri and Udayagiri, and the Mukteswar Temple in Bhubaneswar.
Before concluding his visit, Kumar will interact with around 700 BLOs from Khurda and Cuttack districts on December 29 in Bhubaneswar.
The BLOs will play a major role in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Odisha, which is likely to be conducted by the Election Commission (EC) in the third phase.
The EC conducted SIR in Bihar in the first phase, and the exercise is underway in 12 states and Union territories in the second phase. Odisha, and the remaining states and UTs are expected to be covered in the third phase.
