BJP may go to Orissa HC over delay in ULB elections

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday hit out at the state government for indefinitely delaying the urban local body (ULB) elections.
It has threatened to go to the Orissa high court over the issue. The Notified Area Councils (NACs), municipalities and municipal corporations have been without elected representatives since September 2018.
BJP state unit president Samir Mohanty said, “The government officers are managing everything in the ULBs because there are no elected representatives. The ULB polls are yet to be conducted. There is nobody to pay heed to people’s grievances of the people. It is dangerous for democracy. The state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) must take steps to conduct the civic polls immediately.”
Party’s state spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said the SEC has written a letter to the state government to conduct the panchayat polls without mentioning anything about the ULB polls. “If the commission does not move the high court to hold the ULB polls, BJP will go to the high court within seven days over this issue,” he added.
He said an impeachment motion can be moved in the Parliament against the SEC for not holding the ULB polls in the state. “The SEC is working under the state government, forgetting its own constitutional duties,” he added.
Acharya said both the panchayat and the ULB polls need to be conducted soon. “We have seen that the Election Commission of India holds general elections or state assembly elections on time, but why is the SEC taking so much time for the ULB polls? We will meet the SEC on Monday and discuss the matter,” he added.
State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi said he will go through the allegations levelled by the BJP before commenting on the matter.