BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday questioned the intention of the State government for not sharing the final voters' list with opposition political parties. Expressing serious doubts over the preparation of the list, the saffron party claimed names of several voters are missing from it.
"We (opposition parties) were not given the opportunity to see the voters' list before it was finalised. Though the last date for publication of the final list has passed, none of the districts except Jajpur have made their lists public. There is something fishy and it seems an attempt to win the election by any means," said State BJP general secretary Golak Mohapatra.
As per rules, the draft voters' list should have been published inviting objections and suggestions from the voters. The draft lists were not made public for reason best known to the BJD government, Mohapatra said. December 14 was the date for publication of final voters' list.
The government delayed the publication under the plea of recast of reservation of seats following the order of the Orissa High Court for preparation of fresh reservation list by doing away with the 27 per cent quota for other backward classes (OBCs).
Mohapatra said all political parties are entitled to get two sets of the final voters' list which has not been complied with yet. When asked for the voters’ list, the district panchayat officers said they have no instruction from the government to share the same.
Since there is no transparency in the preparation of the voter lists, the BJP urged the State Election Commission (SEC) to step in and instruct the government to make the list public failing which appropriate action should be taken as per election rules.
"What will those voters do and whom they would approach if they find their names missing from the list. It is the responsibility of the SEC to ensure the elections to the three-tier panchayats are held in a transparent manner. The SEC must address these concerns before announcement of poll dates," the BJP spokesperson said.
Voicing concern over the decision to hold counting of votes at one place of each zilla parishad zone, Mohapatra said there will be huge gatherings at these centres taking the minimum number of contesting candidates at 700 in each zone and their agents into account. Since it would not be possible to maintain Covid appropriate behaviour, the Commission should adopt the old method of counting, he suggested.
Rural polls likely in mid-February
Panchayat elections in the State are likely to be held in mid-February in multiple phases. The dates of the polls are likely to be announced on January 14. The State Election Commission (SEC) is expected to seek the opinion of political on about the number of phases for the elections besides the mode of campaigning at an all-party meeting scheduled on Monday.
All's not well in Congress as factions clash
BHUBANESWAR: Factionalism has reared its head again in the beleaguered Congress ahead of the panchayat polls with the youth and student wings clashing at public places. Two such incidents occured during the last couple of days followed by attempts to damage the students' wing office in the Congress Bhawan late on Saturday night by setting it on fire.
However, there were no reports of any large-scale damage. Only the window screen of the Chhatra Congress room caught fire in the incident, sources said. Though the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, some Congress leaders maintained it was the handiwork of insiders.
It may have been the fallout of the fight between Chhatra and Youth Congress activists. Such fights between the two key wings of the State Congress came to fore despite warning by Odisha in-charge A Chellakumar that no indiscipline will be tolerated within the outfit and strong action will be taken against those indulging in such acts.
President of Odisha Pradesh Youth Congress (OPYC) Smruti Ranjan Lenka, however, said he was not aware of the cause behind the fire in Congress Bhawan. Chhatra Congress president Yasir Nawaj was not available for his comments on the incident.
Several senior leaders of the party strongly condemned the incident and demanded stringent action against the culprits. Commissionerate Police has started an investigation into the incident. Earlier, a youth was allegedly attacked near Congress Bhawan on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, the OPYC president has suspended Debabrata Mohanty, former joint secretary of the OPYC from the primary membership of Congress for anti-party activities.