ECI Team’s September Visit To Odisha Fuels Speculation Of Early Elections

Bhubaneswar: Amid talks about possibility of early elections in Odisha, a team of Election Commission of India (ECI) is scheduled to visit the state on September 13.

Speaking to mediapersons, chief electoral officer of Odisha Nikunja Dhal on Tuesday said that the ECI officials will hold meeting with all district Collectors during their visit to the state on September 13. “VVPAT machines have arrived in nine districts. All EVMs and VVPATs will be examined in the first week of October and continue till November 15. It is an usual process and has nothing to do with early elections,” he said.

He further said that preparing for elections is a long, arduous process. “We have to train people, prepare and print manuals and acquire different materials. We are on schedule to conduct the election as per the schedule to be announced by ECI,” he said.

He added that since EVMs and VVPATs will be examined till November 15, elections cannot be held before that.

It is worth mentioning here that the ECI delegation had visited Andhra Pradesh, where Assembly polls are due in April 2024 along with Odisha, on August 3 and directed collectors to ensure inclusive & error-free electoral rolls.

Notably, preparations of the ruling BJD and at the government level had given credence to possibility of early elections in Odisha. The state cabinet met regularly during the last two months to approve several schemes, including Mo Ghara Yojana, the Mission Shakti Scooty Yojana, Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha and NUA (Nutana Unnata Abhilasha) Odisha scheme to cater to all sections of the society. It also approved a proposal to provide infrastructural support to create banking facilities in 4,373 unbanked gram panchayats of the state.

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.