BJD candidates were elected to all the three chairman posts in Koraput district on Monday.
A tribal woman, R Padma, who is the BJD councillor of Ward 19, was elected Chairperson of Jeypore Municipality. Here, BJD had won 25 seats out of 28 and it was a clear mandate for BJD to form the council.
In Koraput NAC, the coveted post was bagged by an Independent-turned BJD candidate Biswabhusan Patnaik. In the ULB poll here, both BJD and Congress had bagged 10 seats each and the Independent had won from Ward 5. After the result was announced, Patnaik joined the BJD and was elected Chairman on Monday.
In Kotpad NAC, woman BJD Councillor from Ward 3 was elected Chairperson. In the 13-member NAC, Congress and BJD had won six seats each and an Independent had bagged one seat. However, nomination of the Independent candidate for the chairperson post was rejected during scrutiny on Monday and the election officer held a lottery. Subsequently, BJD’s Suchitra Swain was elected.