Indian Election commission has withdrawn election model code of conduct from 11 districts in Odisha in view of cyclonic storm Fani. Schools have been closed, and pilgrims asked to leave temple town Puri.
State election officer Rakesh Kumar said that the model code of conduct has been withdrawn in the districts of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati, Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack and Jajpur to facilitate rescue, relief, and restoration activities by state and central government.
Earlier, Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met chief election commissioner Sunil Arora to request withdrawn of model code of conduct.
Cyclone Fani is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon at Gopalpur close to prominent pilgrimage town Puri.
Odisha’s special relief commissioner B P Sethi told that an advisory has been issued for tourists to evacuate the temple town of Puri by Thursday evening and cancel all non-essential travel plans to the coastal districts of the state for four days.
Political commentator Anurag Punetha told SBS Hindi, “All relief work is subject to government approvals and in wake of model code of conduct it was not possible to allocate funds for it.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tweeted that all possible help will be extended to affected areas.
