Leaders of all major political parties gather at the meeting organised to boycott the urban polls in Sambalpur on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar/ Sambalpur, Aug. 18: The upcoming urban polls in Sambalpur district are likely to be a lacklustre affair with the district units of the BJD, Congress and the BJP deciding to boycott polls in support of their demand for a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in the western part of the state.

The state election commission has stuck to its decision to hold the polls as per schedule.

Secretary of Sambalpur bar association S.S. Sahu, said: “All political parties in Sambalpur have decided to boycott the civic poll. They have passed a resolution not to participate in the poll.”

Officials of the state election commission said they had received a report from the Sambalpur collector requesting to postpone the polls after the lawyers decided to boycott the polls. However, the commission has decided to hold the polls as per schedule.

Nominations will be accepted from August 20 to 24. They would be scrutinised on August 27. The polling will be held on September 19.

Sambalpur collector Balwant Singh said they would proceed as per the order of the state election commission.

Quoting the provisions of Odisha Municipal Act, officials of the state election commission said if the candidates of reserved categories filed no nomination paper, the state government could nominate persons for the reserved seats (meant for SC, ST, women and OBCs). Hence, there was no necessity for a repoll.

However, repoll will be held if nominations are not filed from the general category seats.

Senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari urged the commission to re-examine the matter and postpone the polls.

“How can the elections be held without participation of political parties and voters?” he said.

Senior Congress leader Narsingh Mishra said though the Pradesh Congress Committee not taken the decision, the local unit has decided not to participate in the urban polls in support of lawyers’ movement for a high court bench in western Odisha, which had been a longstanding demand of the people.

The central action committee of western Odisha Bar Associations, which has been agitating for a high court bench in the region, had given a call to the political parties and the people to boycott filing of nominations and subsequent process from August 20.

The state government has set up Justice C.R. Pal commission to look into the demands for having separate benches elsewhere in the state. The commission, constituted in March 2008, was given an extension of six months last June.

It has not submitted a single report to the government.

Lawyers in Jharsuguda organised a similar meeting today and invited members of all major political parties. The politicians there too agreed to boycott filing of nomination papers for the forthcoming urban polls.