Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Mar 10:

10/03/2014: Odisha Election Watch, the State Chapter of National Election Watch, today urged political parties not to give tickets to the people with criminal backgrounds, take a stand against misuse of money power, bribing of voters and distribution of freebies and disclose the criteria for selection of the candidates.

A core team meeting of Odisha Election Watch, held today under the chairmanship of Sahadev Sahu, Former Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha, appealed to the political parties to nominate candidates who have a clean image, no without criminal background and have an instinct in public service. The meeting decided to take forward the “My Vote, My Country” campaign in a massive way throughout the state at different level with a focused message “My Vote not for Sale”. It further decided to appeal to the media houses to support the campaign.

“OEW would hold general public meetings, rallies, Jathas, street corner plays, signature campaigns and massive awareness campaign using different audio visual and print materials.  OEW would conduct a weeklong focused campaign in Bhubaneswar Parliamentary constituency to increase voter turnout and to promote ethical voting,” said Ranjan Kumar Mohanty, Coordinator, Odisha Election Watch.

Amongst others, Amiya Bhusan Tripathy, Former DG Police,  Dr. Seba Mohapatra, former Director Health Services; Baikunthanath Panigrahi, Former Director, Doordarshan, Bhubaneswar;  Prof. Surjya Narayan Mishra; Prof. Prabir Pattnaik; social activists Khyamakar Swain; Mrs. Anuradha Biswal. Sitakanta Dash andSuchit Ranjan Singh also participated in the discussion.