BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to postpone election to the Patkura Assembly constituency scheduled on May 19 in view of cyclone Fani affecting coastal districts of the State.
In a memorandum submitted to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora in Delhi on Tuesday, Naveen said the projected path of cyclone covers Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts. “The ECI will agree that at this time my government’s top most priority will be to save precious lives,” Naveen said. He requested the CEC to postpone election to Patkura to a later date so that communities can work together in harmony and administration can focus on saving precious lives and valuable property.
The Chief Minister’s request to the ECI has again led to talks in the political circles that he (Naveen) does not want elections to be held in Patkura soon to keep his bete noire Bijay Mohapatra out of the Assembly. BJP has fielded Mohapatra from the constituency this time.
Election to Patkura was postponed after the death of Bed Prakash Agarwalla who was fielded by BJD from the constituency. As per the original schedule, polling was supposed to be held in the fourth phase on April 29.Stating that evacuation, disaster preparedness, relief and restoration are all community-based, Naveen said at this juncture a politically surcharged atmosphere will cause serious dislocation in the preparedness.
Further disaster preparedness will involve huge mobilisation of manpower, equipment, food materials and mock drills, Naveen said and added that community mobilisation to harness their energy is the key to successfully managing disasters.
He also requested the CEC to remove the Model Code of Conduct with regard to disaster management in coastal districts of the State so that the Government can handle the situation keeping the safety of people in mind. “Emergency decision is required in both these matters as that would help in effectively managing the cyclone which is expected to make a landfall in the next 72 hours,” he said.
Reacting to the Chief Minister’s request to the ECI, Mohapatra said it is part of his conspiracy not to hold elections in Patkura.