Keonjhar

Congress in Odisha has called for a statewide bandh on October 8. The party is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. This is over alleged mass deletion of voter names during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

Other demands and protests

The party has also asked for:

• Rollback of the amended MMDR Act
• School minister Nityananda Gond to step down over errors in school textbooks

Congress Odisha president Bhakta Charan Das said the INDIA bloc will hold a protest rally near the assembly in Bhubaneswar. They have sought support from all partner parties. A Parivartan Rally is also planned for October 7 in Keonjhar district.

BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy dismissed the allegations. He said there was no manipulation of electoral rolls. He also said the government has already started action against those responsible for the textbook errors.

Odisha has successfully distributed enumeration forms for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls to approximately 99 percent of the state's voters. Official data indicates that 34.54 percent of these forms have already been digitised.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi actively participated in the campaign at his native Raikala village in Keonjhar district by filling out his own enumeration form. This initiative aims to ensure an accurate, transparent, and updated electoral roll for the state.

The Sundargarh district is currently leading the state in both the distribution of forms and the digitisation process, with 62.71 percent of data already processed in the district. Citizens are encouraged to cooperate with local administration and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the ongoing door-to-door verification process.