Malkangiri/Bhubaneswar, Jan 16: Today the secretary of the State Election Commission (SEC), Rabindra Sahu stated that any decision regarding the announcement of a new panchayat poll schedule for cut-off areas of Malkangiri will be taken only after a review on Jan 22. He further added that the nomination is left for another two days and once the process gets over tomorrow, the SEC will take a decision after assessing the situation not only for Malkangiri, but other cut-off areas also. Additionally he went on to state that as per the current poll norms, if a nomination is not filed for any panchayat due to any reasons in the first phase, a new schedule is announced by the SEC and if all the nominations get rejected or withdrawn, a new schedule is also declared.
Notably, Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee secretary Jagabandhu called for the panchayat poll boycott citing non-development in the areas in past 70 years and asked people to elect representatives in kangaroo courts, instead of participating in polls. Jagabandhu also threatened if any political leaders come to the area to campaign, they will be sentenced in kangaroo courts. But political parties have asserted that they would field poll candidates and undertake campaigning in the targeted areas.
