Bhubaneswar: The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha has banned Exit poll pertaining to the Pipili bye-election, read an official press note.
No Newspaper, News Bureau, Media House, Radio and Television Channel can publish, broadcast or telecast exit poll pertaining to the Pipili Bye-election result, sources from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer said.
Following the directives from the Election Commission of India (ECI), a notification has been published in the Odisha Gazette.
The long-pending bypoll to Pipili assembly constituency in Puri district will be held on September 30. The counting of votes and announcement of the results will be done on October 3. The election process will be completed on October 5.
The by-poll was necessitated due to the demise of the sitting MLA Pradeep Maharathy on October 4 due to Covid-19. Originally the by-poll was scheduled on April 17 but had to be rescheduled to May 16 after Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj died due to Covid-19. However, it was later deferred due to the second wave of the Covid pandemic.
While BJD has fielded Rudra Pratap Maharathy, the BJP candidate is Ashrit Patnaik. Congress has fielded Biswokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra.