SEC calls all-party meet tomorrow to discuss Odisha panchayat polls

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 25:

The State Election Commission (SEC) has called an all-party meeting tomorrow to discuss several key issues pertaining to the panchayat polls scheduled to be held in February 2017.

According to information provided by SEC Secretary Rabindra Nath Sahu, the meeting will be held at 4 PM tomorrow and will deliberate on preparation and management of the polls.

Besides, several smaller details of poll management including issuance of polling itinerary, filing of nominations, poll expenditure and use of vehicles during election and enforcement of election code of conduct will be taken up for discussion in the meeting.

An earlier attempt for an all-party on December 21 fell apart as BJP, Congress and the Left parties boycotted the meet citing various reasons.

It may be mentioned here that the State Government, on December 23, issued a gazette notification for conducting panchayat elections in the state. The schedule for the panchayat polls are likely to be announced within next few days.

As many as 6,805 panchayats, including the newly created 594 new Panchayats, will go to polls in February 2017. Besides, voters of 92,045 wards along with 853 Zilla Parishads of the state will also choose their local representatives in the polls.