Taking a serious view of the rising incidents of poll-related violence across the State, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Friday again pulled up the Chief Secretary AP Padhi and DGP KB Singh asking them to take prompt measures to prevent violence and arrest of the culprits at the earliest.
In two separate letters to the two top State officials, the SEC asked them to ask the district SPs and other Government officials to maintain neutrality.
The SEC’s letter came hours after a delegation of BJP leaders met Commissioner Rabi Narayan Senapaty and demanded security for its party leaders and candidates contesting the ongoing panchayat elections.
“Take necessary steps to issue suitable instructions to the SPs to prevent any incident of post-poll violence and to ensure safety and security of the polling personnel as well as the general public, candidates and others. Strict vigil, alertness and prompt action are needed to prevent occurrence of any such incident in the next phases of elections. The police officials shall be suitably instructed to maintain impartiality and neutrality in their conduct in order to ensure free and fair elections,” the letter stated.
SEC Secretary Rabindra Nath Sahu told reporters that the Chief Secretary and the DGP have been instructed to initiate prompt action and maintain a strict vigil for maintaining law and order during the polls.