Odisha's Sudarsan Pattnaik Creates Sand Art To Raise Awareness Among 'First Time Voters'

Puri (Odisha) [India] : Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created sand art to raise awareness among 'First Time Voters' on Puri's beach.

The sand art depicts a message, "Mera Pehla Vote Desh Ke Liye," which translates into 'My first vote for the nation'.

On February 17, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar took stock of the preparation of the Lok Sabha election in Odisha and said that it is fully prepared to conduct the 2024 Parliamentary and state assembly elections, simultaneously in Odisha.

"We are fully prepared to conduct 2024 Parliamentary elections and state assembly elections. Every preparation is almost complete. I request all voters to come and participate in the festival of democracy, whether youths, women, or those staying in inaccessible areas," Kumar said addressing a press conference.

Speaking about the meeting with political parties in Odisha, the CEC said that several political parties have raised the apprehension that the state government machinery is not neutral and a "level-playing field" should be established.

"They raised the demand to ensure that we maintain the neutrality of the government machinery. Many parties stated that the administration is perceived to be not neutral. They favour the party in power. Therefore the level-playing field should be established," Kumar said.

"There was also an apprehension that the facilities and the entitlements that are given to the political parties like grounds, vehicles and loudspeakers are not provided equally," he added.

Speaking about violence reported in the last assembly elections in Odisha, the CEC stated that the administration should ensure that incidents of violence are checked in the state.

"Administration was not alive to check violence. There was violence in the last elections in certain areas. So the administration should be energised to ensure that violence does not take place," he said.

The Election Commission said that feedback from political parties is important as they play an important role in elections.

"The feedback from political parties are important, as they are important stakeholders...they are the second interface between the voter and the Commission," Kumar said.

The CEC informed that the Vidhan Sabha elections in Odisha will end by June 24, 2024 and the Parliamentary elections will end by June 16.

There are 147 assembly constituencies in Odisha, out of which 33 are ST constituencies, Kumar said.

"In Parliamentary elections, out of 31 constituencies, 13 are General, 3 are SC and 5 for STs, second highest after Jharkhand," Kumar added.

Sharing the demographic profile of voters, the CEC said, "There are 3.32 crore voters across the state of which male voters are 1.68 and 1.64 female voters. We have 3380 third-gender voters as well, 6.8 lakh very senior citizens. 9060 voters are more than 100 years old."

"In 50 per cent of polling stations, there will be webcasting facility. Out of 37809, polling stations, there will be webcasting arrangements on 22,685 polling stations. The direct feed will be seen by our people in the control room so that in case of any wrongdoing, immediate action can be taken," he said.

Kumar said that 300 polling stations will be manned by persons with disabilities. Moreover, 700 booths will be managed by young employees who have been recruited recently.

"Person with disabilities, youth and women will be kept as key focus. To ensure that there will be 300 polling stations which will be managed by persons with disabilities. Our staff will manage them. There are 700 booths which will be managed by young employees who have been recruited recently. So a young person who goes to vote will get a sense of involvement and empowerment," the CEC said.