A DAY WITH CEO: Not a single day does ‘Mr Democracy’ miss his gym routine

A battery of 50 reporters waiting for news updates and files remain to be signed, two hours for answering queries on social media and responding to political parties, a daily confidential report to the higher officials in New Delhi and to coordinate with four to five departments daily, an ever-buzzing mobile phone and allegations and counter-allegations aplenty, all form part of the day’s activity of this pointsman for the democratic exercise in the state. Sahoo seems to be skilled enough to strike a balance. Besides a 30-minute gym sessions, he, currently, is reading the book ‘Every Vote Counts: The Story of India’s Elections’ authored by former CEC Navin Chawla.

A day spent with the CEO also revealed that he finds it difficult to handle the media and the social media, which is consuming nearly half of his working hours, which starts at 9 am and goes till late into the night. The daily review schedule of the CEO also includes discussions with District Collectors, top state police and Income Tax officials.

“Eight hours of sleep is a luxury for those working at the CEO’s office; 70 staff are working round-the-clock and the credit of conducting the polls collectively goes to those on election duty,” Sahoo said in an interaction with DT Next.

The CEO has a mobile phone with 128 GB memory, so all the social media complaints are forwarded for action and the videos are not deleted from his phone, for further reference, said a Public Elections Department official. The only respite for a CEO is the video conferencing facility where every district election works can be reviewed from Fort St George.

“Every day is challenging. I am just waiting for the polls to end in a fair and peaceful manner. Attending phone calls and handling the media are the two most strenuous tasks,” he said. “Every day I attend over 100 phone calls and there are more than two dozen tapals (letters or petitions by post) from political parties related to permissions and code violations,” he added. The CEO exuded confidence that there would be a higher turnout on April 18 due to the systematic voter’s education and electoral participation activities.

For Lok Sabha, the average voter turnout is around 73 per cent and this time we are expecting that to go up. Earlier, the CEO chaired a high level meeting attended by poll officials on the dispatch of EVMs and indelible ink and also reviewed the security arrangements near polling stations and counting stations.