Even as the three-tier panchayat polls in the state came to an end on Sunday, the by-election to an assembly seat, scheduled next month, has cast its shadow on the ensuing state budget which will be presented next Friday.
The code of conduct for the panchayat polls was supposed to remain in force till next Tuesday when the budget session of the assembly is beginning.
But with the Election Commission announcing the date for the by-poll for the Athagarh assembly seat as March 18 and the notification in this regard expected to be issued on Tuesday, the tenure of the code of conduct is likely to be extended till the end of the by-election.
If this happens, the government may be restricted not to announce any populist measures in the state budget for 2012-13, pointed out the sources.
“We are yet to get any direction on this front from the Election Commission. We will act accordingly after receiving the necessary missive from the EC,” said a senior official of the state finance department.
The Athagarh assembly seat was lying vacant since December last year, when the Supreme Court of India declared the 2009 election null and void and ordered fresh poll.
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Meanwhile, the five-phase poll to elect rural ward members, sarpanchs and zilla parishad members came to an end on Sunday, when the final phase of voting was conducted across 24 districts of the state.
In the month-long election process, rural Orissa voted for 314 block chairmans, 854 zillaparishad members and for 6,236 panchayats. Average voter turnout across the state was 69.14 per cent, with Nayagarh district leading the list with 85 per cent voter turn out and Cuttack the lowest, with 62 per cent voters casting their rights, as per the election commission report.
The State Election Commission has ordered re-polling in 60 booths on Monday, while final voting results will be officially announced on 21 and 22 February.