Odisha: Majority of the political parties in Odisha proposed to make alcohol-free Panchayat election during an all-party meeting held on Saturday. State Election Commission (SEC) Aditya Prasad Padhi himself, chaired the meet, on four agendas regarding the preparation of the forthcoming Panchayat elections with the representatives of all political parties.
As per reports, the SEC, hold discussions on four agendas regarding the preparation of the forthcoming Panchayat elections most of the political parties were of the opinion to ban liquor seven days ahead of the election. Addressing the press after the all party meet, the SEC told that the voters list will be prepared before the ensuing election without any mistake. The Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC) id number of the voters will be added along with their names to the list.
The SEC further told the reporters, that usually the voting time was from 7 am to 12 pm. But as this time, there will be a central counting at the block level instead of booths. Most of the political parties are of the opinion to increase the duration of polling period by two more hours. A detailed discussion was also held on the limits of election expenditure by the candidates, he said. It has also been proposed in the meeting by many of the political parties to increase the limit of election expenditures of Sarpanch and Nominee candidates from the existing Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 2,00,000. It has been proposed to increase the amount from Rs. 2,00,000 to Rs. 5,00,000 for Zilla Parishad candidates.
