Ahead of three-tier panchayat polls in Odisha, political parties in the state on Saturday appealed to the State Election Commission to shut down all liquor shops in the areas where polling is scheduled at least 7 days before the commencement of elections.
State election commissioner AP Padhi, who met the representatives of various political parties, said most of them wanted a ban on liquor seven days ahead of the election.
“During the election, liquor plays a major role in influencing voters. We fear the ruling BJD would try to influence the voters by a largescale distribution of liquor just before polls as was seen during the 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly polls. So we requested the Election Commission to put at least 7 days ban on liquor before the polls,” said Shibananda Ray, Congress leader.
According to a Union ministry of social justice and empowerment report titled ‘Magnitude of Substance Use in India - 2019’, Odisha was at the 17th spot among the 36 states and Union territories in the country in terms of alcohol consumption. The survey found around 32 per cent of the population in the age group of 10-75 years to be consuming various forms of alcoholic drinks. The per capita consumption of liquor that was 700 ml in 2001-02 climbed to 3.3 litres in 2018-19.
Election Commissioner Padhi said no decision on banning liquor for 7 days before polls has been taken.
{{/usCountry}}Election Commissioner Padhi said no decision on banning liquor for 7 days before polls has been taken.
{{/usCountry}}During Saturday’s meeting with the SEC, political parties demanded raising the expenditure limit for sarpanch and panchayat samiti candidates from ₹80,000 to ₹2 lakh and that of Zilla Parishad candidates from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh. The parties also demanded widening the window for voting from the existing 7 am-12 pm.
The panchayati raj department has already prepared a final list of reservations for the president of 30 zilla parishads, half of which would be for women candidates. For the first time in panchayat polls, Zilla Parishad president posts in 4 districts are reserved for candidates from backward class category.
Elections are due in February to the posts of 6,800 sarpanch and panchayat samiti members, 92,000 ward members, 853 zilla Parishad members and 314 panchayat samiti chaiperson posts. The 2022 panchayat polls would be crucial for the BJP as it would show whether the party’s popularity has gone up after its stunning success in the 2017 polls when it registered 9 times rise in its zilla parishad members.