Bhubaneswar: To enforce existing anti-defection laws, the state cabinet on Thursday decided to introduce open ballot system in place of secret ballots during no-trust vote in urban civic bodies.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said: "Its purpose is to ensure that councillors obey the direction issued by the political party he/she represents."

The open ballot system is followed for Rajya Sabha polls.

Elections to municipalities, notified area councils and corporations are fought on party symbols. "It is essential for a political party to know whether the elected representative, who has won the poll on its symbol, is adhering to its ideology and obeying instructions in letter and spirit," an official said. No trust motions are brought against chairpersons of the civic bodies.

Housing and urban development secretary G. Mathivathanan said: "Before casting his vote in a no trust motion, the voter has to show his ballot to the political agent present in the room. This will help the state election commission to dispose of complaints on ground of defection."

The decision to change the voting method follows the humiliation the BJD suffered in Keonjhar in December 2015 when at least eight councillors passed a no-confidence motion against the chairperson of the local municipality.

The party lost the motion and the matter went to court.

In Vyasnagar municipality, councillors had ganged up to move a no-confidence motion against its chairman. The Congress had moved the motion with the support of seven rebel BJD members in December 2016. But the party leadership intervened and managed a save its face.