BHUBANESWAR: The Opposition BJP and Congress on Saturday came down heavily on the BJD government over the faulty reservation of seats for the panchayat election and demanded that the entire process should be cancelled.
The draft list of reservations for the upcoming three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha was published at the district-level on Friday.
Terming the draft list faulty, State BJP general secretary Lekhashree Samantsingar said it was prepared to suit the ruling BJD as procedure and yardstick for reservation was not followed as per rules.
Stating that October 8 was the date for publication of the draft list, Lekhashree said such lists were published in 20 districts while 10 districts have not done so yet.
As per the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act, the reservation for scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, other backward classes and women should be done according to the population in respective categories.
Reports received from the 20 districts said that there were a lot of discrepancies which appear deliberate.
If the objections raised by the voters are not taken into consideration, some will prefer to challenge the draft list in the court of law and this is what the BJD wants, she said.
State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik also alleged that the government has prepared the list after realising that it cannot defer the panchayat polls further.
“The government has made the changes in gross violation of the norms of the Constitution only to win the election,” he added.
Refuting Opposition allegations, BJD MLA Prashant Muduli said since the panchayat election is not fought on party symbols, the candidates can raise objections.
Meanwhile, those willing to object to the allotment of reservation for the posts of ward member, sarpanch, samiti member and block chairman can file claims by October 16.
The disposal of the claims will be done by the collectors at the district-level by October 21. The final list will be published on October 26.