The Odisha Election Watch (OEW), State chapter of the National Election Watch, on Monday urged the political parties not to give ticket to the people with criminal backgrounds and to take a stand against misuse of money power in the election.
A core team meeting of the OEW held here under the chairmanship of former Chief Secretary Sahadev Sahu appealed the parties not to bribe voters by distributing freebies and to disclose the criteria for selection of the candidates. The core team also appealed the political parties to give party ticket to honest, clean and persons who have instinct in public service.
The meeting decided to take forward the ‘My Vote, My Country’ campaign in a massive way throughout the State at different level with a focused message ‘My Vote not for Sale’. “We will also conduct a weeklong focused campaign in Bhubaneswar to increase voter’s turnout and to promote ethical voting,” said OEW coordinator Ranjan Kumar Mohanty.
Among others, former DGP Amiya Bhusan Tripathy, former Director Health Services Seba Mohapatra, former Bhubaneswar Doordarshan Director Baikunthanath Panigrahi and Prof Surjya Narayan Mishra were present.