Bring ballots back: Congress

BHUBANESWAR: Raising doubts over the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday demanded use of ballot papers in the Kendrapara municipal polls. In a letter to the State Election Commission (SEC), OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik requested that the polls be conducted by using ballot papers instead of EVMs. The issue was discussed at a meeting of senior Congress leaders of Kendrapara district convened by Patnaik at the Congress Bhavan here. After the 2009 polls, Congress had alleged that EVM tampering was one of the major reasons behind its defeat. Patnaik said all-round failure of the BJD Government would be the major focus of the campaign. The Congress would launch its anti-Naveen campaign from Kendrapara polls, he said adding that winnability will be the main criterion for party ticket. The OPCC president asked party workers to sink differences and join hands to come out victorious in the polls. This would be the first election the party is going to face after Patnaik became the OPCC president. A committee was formed for selection of candidates, running of campaign and taking care of other election-related works.  Kendrapara District Congress Committee president Debendranath Sharma will be the chairman of the committee. Other members of the committee include former minister Bhagabat Prasad Mohanty, OPCC vice-president in-charge of Kendrapara district Gurupada Nanda, candidate for the Kendrapara Assembly constituency in the last polls Ganeswar Behera, Kendrapara Lok Sabha candidate Ranjib Biswal, former municipal chairmen Akbar Ali and Prabir Mohanty, president of the Kendrapara town Congress Soumendra Prusti, Student Congress president Dhaneswar Rout, Mahila Congress chief Sarojini Jena and minority community department chairman Abdul Sattar.