Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar began a three-day visit to Odisha on Saturday, starting with a family trip to the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. After offering prayers to the sibling deities, Kumar spoke warmly about the state's deep cultural roots and the "ancient and unique" traditions he hopes to experience during his stay.
While the visit has a strong spiritual and heritage focus, it also carries significant administrative weight, as Kumar is scheduled to meet with the state's booth-level officers (BLOs), whom he praised as the "pillars of the election process".
Following his visit to Puri, the CEC travelled to the Konark Sun Temple. His cultural tour is set to continue through Sunday and Monday, with stops planned at the heritage village of Raghurajpur, the Dhauli Shanti Stupa, the Khandagiri and Udayagiri hills, and the Mukteswar Temple in Bhubaneswar.
The official highlight of the trip will take place on December 29, when Kumar will interact with approximately 700 BLOs from the Khurda and Cuttack districts. This meeting is a precursor to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which the Election Commission is expected to launch in Odisha during its third phase. With similar voter roll updates already completed in Bihar and currently underway in 12 other states, the interaction in Bhubaneswar will be key to preparing the ground-level staff who will manage the revision process in the coming months.
Also read: BJD will serve Odisha for 100 years: Naveen Patnaik
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