ECI reviews preparedness for holding simultaneous Lok Sabha, Assembly polls in Odisha

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], February 16 : An Election Commission of India (ECI) team conducted a review of poll preparedness for simultaneous elections to both the Lok Sabha and the Odisha Assembly at Bhubaneswar.
The ECI held a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Arun Goel. The ECI team reviewed the poll preparedness of District Election Officers (DEOs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs).
The ECI also met party leaders from the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party while on their visit.
"It is the usual process of the Election Commission of India to go round the state before a large election which is happening in this case happening simultaneously with Lok Sabha and the elections in the state of Odisha as well. As part of that they normally hold consultations with different political parties. So taking the opportunity we were invited to interact with them," BJP leader Samir Mohanty said speaking to reporters.
Odisha has 21 Parliamentary constituencies. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) got the maximum number of seats followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The BJD won in 12 seats, BJP got eight and the Congress won one seat.
The state has 147 Assembly Constituencies. The BJD swept the state, winning 113 seats in the 2019 Assembly polls held simultaneously with the General Elections. The BJP came a distant second securing 23 seats, followed by the Congress winning nine, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) winning one and an Independent candidate bagging one seat.
The Election Commission last week announced that 96.88 crore people are registered to vote for the forthcoming General Elections, marking it the largest electorate.
It also added over two crore youth electors in the age group of 18 to 29 years have been added in the voters' list.
After a months-long intensive Special Summary Revision 2024 exercise and ahead of the General Elections 2024, the Election Commission of India has published the electoral rolls in all States/UTs across the country with reference to January 1, 2024, as the qualifying date.
"This also included the successful completion of the revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, following the delimitation of constituencies. The endeavour, undertaken with meticulous planning, coordination and participation of political parties has yielded noteworthy achievements in terms of inclusivity, health and purity of the electoral rolls," the EC stated.
Meanwhile, the gender ratio has increased from 940 in 2023 to 948 in 2024, the poll panel said. The Commission has put special emphasis on the purity and health of the Electoral Roll along with disclosures and transparency in the revision of electoral rolls.