Bhubaneswar: The issue pertaining to the much-awaited by-election to Bijepur Assembly seat in Bargarh district has pushed litigants to move Delhi High Court.
The petitioners have urged the Delhi High Court in this regard, Saturday seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India for early conduct of the by-elections.
Expressing concern over the delay in announcement of dates for the bypoll, a civil organisation has filed a petition before the High Court which is expected to take up the case January 22.
Kanak Foundation has filed a petition against the Election Commission of India (ECI) for “delay in issuing notification” for the bypoll to Bijepur Assembly seat and sought elections at the earliest.The seat has fallen vacant with the demise of MLA Subala Sahu, August 22, last year.
However, when contacted, Orissa Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) DN Gupta stated that the case may not have any impact on the poll schedule as the government is not against holding the election. He also indicated that the dates may be announced any time, next week.
Asked about measures being taken by his office to ensure that the dates do not clash with matriculation examinations, Gupta said, “We have informed the ECI about the schedule for matriculation examination. I hope it will not coincide.” The High School Certification (HSC) examination will be held between February 23 and March 8.
VVPATs and EVMs have been procured for the elections and officials have been trained for the purpose. The CEO is awaiting a direction from the Election Commission to go ahead with the polls.
Earlier, the CEO had clarified that a six-month period can be availed by the government when a seat falls vacant. However, in this case, a petition was pending in the court, hence the six-month period will be effective from the date of disposal of the court case and the bypoll will be held within six months from the date of closure of all judicial cases.
The Orissa High Court October 16, 2017, had concluded hearing the petition filed by BJD leader Prasanna Acharya challenging the election of late Bijepur MLA Subal Sahu.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has completed the process for preparation of fresh voter list for Bijepur assembly segment. As per the fresh list, the total number of voters in the constituency is 2,21,144, which is 1949 more than the previous number. Of the total voters, 1,15,417 are male and 1,05,713 female and the remaining 14 are transgenders, official sources revealed.
The delay in poll notification had caused a war of words among the major political parties BJD and BJP. The BJD has accused the BJP-led NDA government of influencing the Election Commission to delay the bypoll to the advantage of the saffron party. The BJP, however, denied the BJD accusation.
PNN
