Cuttack, Apr 10: The Orissa High Court asked the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold Zilla Parishad election in the Maoist affected Malkangiri district, here on Monday.
Earlier, the court had reserved its verdict after conducting a hearing in the matter. It directed the SEC today to conduct the elections in 18 Gram Panchayats of Chitrakonda I and II zones of the district.
Following a joint report from the District Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy and Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mahapatra, the SEC had cancelled the election.
The district administration in its report had asked the SEC to put the polls on hold in the block citing safety issues of the candidates, voters and officials engaged in election duty in the cut-off areas.
Meanwhile, State Election Commissioner Rabindra Nath Sahu informed that all the necessary arrangements would be made soon to conduct a peaceful election in Chitrakonda.
Kalinga AI