Bhubaneswar, Oct 9: Ahead of the Nuapada by-election scheduled for November 11, an all-party meeting was convened on Thursday at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to ensure smooth, impartial, and transparent election conduct.

Presiding over the meeting, Chief Electoral Officer R.S. Gopalan emphasized that all necessary arrangements have been made to guarantee a free, fair, and peaceful election. He urged representatives of all political parties to strictly adhere to the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), especially the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Also read: Tribal Votes And Sympathy Tactics on Cards for Nuapada Bypoll

As per the latest ECI directives, political parties and candidates are prohibited from publishing arbitrary advertisements in media without prior approval. Additionally, candidates must submit criminal antecedent declarations, which are to be published in print media and reported to the Commission.

The CEO also instructed parties to submit lists of star campaigners and maintain transparency in election expenditure. This year, voter count per booth has been capped at 1,200 to streamline polling operations.

The final electoral roll includes 2,53,624 voters, comprising 1,24,108 male, 1,29,495 female, and 21 third-gender voters. Among them are 9,429 young voters, 3,988 persons with disabilities, and 1,786 senior citizens aged above 85. A total of 56 new polling booths have been established for the bypoll.

With MCC in force, all forms of campaign advertisements — whether through print, electronic, social media, cinema halls, radio, posters, or hoardings — require prior approval from the Commission.

The meeting also saw participation from Additional CEO Sushant Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretaries Pramod Kumar Sahu and Ramchandra Kisku, Joint Secretary Gopinath Kumar, Deputy CEOs Dr. Laxmi Prasad Sahu and Anamika Singh, along with representatives from various political parties.

The session concluded with a collective commitment to uphold democratic values and ensure a smooth electoral process in Nuapada.