Returning Officer For RS Polls: EC Seeks List Of 3 Officers From Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission (EC) has asked the Odisha government to submit a list of three officers of whom it would select one officer as Returning Officer for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections scheduled on March 23.

Considering that the present Odisha Assembly secretary Amiya Kumar Sarangi should not be appointed as the Returning Officer for the Rajya Sabha polls as he will superannuate in March, the Commission has asked the state government to send a list of three officers with their detail service records.

Reliable sources said the state government has recommended the name of three IAS officers—Hari Ballabh Mishra, Nirmal Kumar Mishra and Pravakar Patil—to the Election Commission.

The Commission is most likely announce its decision on Tuesday.

In Odisha, the biennial election to three Rajya Sabha seats will be held following the expiry of term of AV Swamy, AU Singhdeo and Dilip Tirkey on April 3.

As per the schedule, the last date of filing nominations is March 12, scrutiny of nominations on March 13 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures on March 15.

The polling would begin at 9 AM and end at 4 PM while counting of votes and announcement of results would be made on March 23.

The poll process would be completed on March 26.