Bhubaneswar: The State Election Commission (SEC) has published detailed schedules for in-direct election to Zilla Parishad (ZP) President, Vice President, Block Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Naib Sarpanch.
SEC Secretary RN Sahu has written a letter to the District Collectors specifying the detailed timelines for the in-direct elections.
As per schedule, the election to the post of Zilla Parishad president and vice-president will be held on March 13 and 25, respectively. The in-direct poll for the post of Block Chairman and Vice-Chairman will be conducted on March 12 and March 22, respectively.
An interested elected Zilla Parishad Member can submit his/her nomination paper for the President or Vice-President poll in between 10.30 AM to 11.30 AM on the election day.
The nominations will be scrutinized in the next one hour while the candidates can withdraw their nominations by 1 pm. If required, voting will be held from 1.30 PM to 4 PM and then the result will be declared.
Similarly, the Naib Sarpanch election will be held on March 11. The interested Ward Members can submit their nominations between 10 AM to 11 AM on the same day while scrutiny of nominations will be done from 11 AM to 11,30 AM. candidates can withdraw their nominations by 12 noon and voting, if required, will be held between 12 noon to 1 PM. Counting and declaration of results will be done soon after that.
“The above timing including the date and venue shall be published on the Notice Board of the Election Officers for information of the general public. The Superintendent of Police of the District may be requested to make adequate police arrangements during the conduct of indirect election,” Mr.Sahu told District Collectors in the letter.
This time, the Commission is going to implement the new anti-defection rule for in-direct election to the post of Zilla Parishad President and Vice-President.
The State Government has recently amended the Odisha Zilla Parishad (ZP) Election Rules, 1994 by adding another clause. The new clause provides for appointment of agents by every political party and the election officer will allow the authorised agents to verify the vote cast by the elected Zilla Parishad member of their respective parties as is being done during Rajya Sabha elections, SEC officials said.
As per the new norms, during the in-direct election to Zilla Parishad President and Vice-President posts, all the Members will have to show their votes to the political agent appointed by their own party before dropping it in the vote box.
The political parties will have to submit details on appointment of authorized agents in a prescribed form to the concerned electoral officer by 5.30 pm of the previous day of election, the officials said.