Odisha chief electoral officer seeks voluntary retirement after voter-roll revision

Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer R. S. Gopalan has applied for voluntary retirement from service, shortly after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State.

Mr. Gopalan, a 1968-born officer of the 2001-batch Indian Administrative Service, submitted his application on Wednesday, September 30, according to The Hindu. He had about one and a half years remaining before his scheduled retirement.

Mr. Gopalan was quoted as saying that he had sought voluntary retirement for personal reasons and that the decision had nothing to do with the SIR process. He oversaw the revision in Odisha, where the final electoral roll was published on September 21.

The Chief Electoral Officer said the revision in Odisha had been less controversial than similar exercises in other States. The process nevertheless drew objections from the Biju Janata Dal, which submitted several memoranda alleging that voters had been excluded from the electoral list. The development comes amid nationwide demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR issue.

In Bhubaneswar, workers of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee held a protest march to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, according to the report. The material does not state whether Mr. Gopalan’s application has been accepted or identify who would succeed him as Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer.

It also does not provide details of the alleged exclusions cited in the Biju Janata Dal’s memoranda or indicate whether those claims affected the final roll.