Elections 2019: All-party meeting in Odisha ahead of electoral roll revision

Bhubaneswar: The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha, Surendra Kumar held a meeting with the representatives of different political parties of the State in Bhubaneswar today ahead of the electoral roll revision for the upcoming general elections.

Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera from BJD, Samir Mohanty and Pitambar Acharya from BJP and Congress vice president Shivananda Ray attended the meeting to discuss steps to ensure free and fair elections.

Sources said revision in electoral roll, appointment of agents at booth level, use of electronic voting machines and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) and formation of new booths were discussed during the meeting.

The Chief Election Commission has fixed September 1 as the date from which electoral roll revision will begin.

"The political parties were asked to cooperate during the revision of electoral roll. Field officers of the parties should ensure that youths, women, SC/ST and disabled voters are not left out in the process. If there is any error in the list, it should be revised. Besides, booth rationalisation has to be carried out at the district level," the CEO said.

During the meeting all the parties were present and no one has lodged any complaint, he added.

On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said, "Rationalisation of polling booths done by violating guidelines of Election Commission of India (ECI); such irregularities have been done to favour ruling BJD."