CEO signals early poll; parties gung-ho

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Bhubaneswar: A sudden spike in activities of the Election Commission of India (ECI) added fresh fuel to speculations that the panel may be thinking to hold general elections in the country earlier than expected.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here started pre-poll preparedness eight months before the elections are due. Officials of CEO-Odisha Tuesday started holding meetings with district level officials from Khurda, Nayagarh, Rayagada and Koraput in this regard. “It’s the year of election. May 2019 is the month before which new people’s representatives are to be elected. As per an order of the ECI, electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be supplied to us while the process for rationalisation of booths has started since May 15,” assistant electoral officer Kashinath Sahu said, adding the process of door to door verification of voters and inclusion of new voters is under way.
Stating that the process is a routine matter, Sahu said, “We had invited proposals from all 30 districts asking them to submit detailed proposals on whether any new booth will be created or not. Accordingly, they come everyday with their respective proposals. This programme will continue till July 27.”
The CEO officials are scrutinising the proposals and after completion of the process, it will be sent for the approval of the ECI, he pointed out. The ECI has allocated 96,200 pairs of EVMs (ballot units and control units) to the state. These newly manufactured EVMs will be collected from six states. The CEO Odisha has received about 12,200 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs).
Meanwhile, major political parties in the state expressed willingness for possible early poll. BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said, “It is true that the Election Commission is getting prepared for general elections. Being a political party, we are well aware of the developments. Our party is fully prepared to face elections at any point in time.”
PCC president Niranjan Patnaik said his party is ready to fight the election at any time. “We are united and cent per cent ready for the poll battle even if it is held tomorrow,” Patnaik said. BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said “BJP is a cadre-based party. It is always prepared from the grassroots level for elections at any time. BJP has already started its activities.