ROURKELA: Candidates of major political parties in Sundargarh district filed nominations for the 35-member Sundargarh Zilla Parishad (ZP) council on Tuesday. A total of 81 nominations for ZP poll were received. In all, 4,050 papers were received on the last day of nominations for the three-tier Panchayat elections.
Sources said Rourkela Development Authority Chairman and former BJD minister Sarada Prasad Nayak on Tuesday led six remaining BJD contestants in Panposh sub-division to file nominations. Eight BJD nominees in Bonai sub-division submitted their papers in the presence of Rourkela unit BJD president and Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board Chairman Subash Singh.
With this, the BJD filed nominations for all 17 ZP seats in the two sub-divisions and 18 ZP seats in the Sundargarh sub-division. Incumbent ZP member of BJD, Ballavi Naik, is the only candidate to be repeated, while the rest 34 BJD candidates are new faces. Sundargarh District Congress Committee (SDCC) president Dushmanta Naik said that two each Congress nominees in Bonai and Sundargarh sub-divisions and nine in Panposh sub-division filed nominations papers on Tuesday.
He said no incumbent Zilla Parishad member was repeated, while former ZP members Janaki Tirkey and Sanjukta Oram were nominated for this ZP poll.
Odisha unit BJP secretary Dhiren Senapati said seven BJP nominees in the three sub-divisions filed nominations on Tuesday.
Four nominees of Birmitrapur MLA George Tirkey on Tuesday filed nominations in Panposh sub-division, while two nominees of Tirkey filed papers from Rajgangpur block of Sundargarh sub-division.
Tirkey said his 11 nominees are contesting the ZP election under the banner of Sundargarh Zilla Adivasi Mulvasi Bachao Manch (SZAMBM) and they have sought the symbol of drum.
The CPM has fielded 10 candidates, including eight in Bonai sub-division and two in Panposh sub-division, while JMM has fielded 11 Zilla Parishad candidates.
Sundargarh District Panchayat Officer Guruva Singh said a total of 4,050 nominations were received on Tuesday and it included 81 ZP aspirants, 698 Sarpanch nominees, 562 Samiti Member nominees and 2,709 Ward Member contestants.
A total of 174 Zilla Parishad nominees, 1,555 Sarpanch nominees, 1,195 Samiti Member nominees and 4,032 Ward Member nominees have submitted their papers, he added.