BHUBANESWAR: After the massive mandate in the Zilla Parishad elections, the ruling BJD is now focusing on capturing a majority of panchayat samitis by installing party-supported candidates as chairpersons.Election to the post of chairpersons of panchayat samitis will be held on March 12. Intense politicking has started among representatives of the three main political parties - BJD, BJP and Congress - as the post of chairperson of panchayat samitis along with the sarpanchs hold the key to dominance in rural areas.
Though the post is apolitical, the election is keenly fought by the political parties because of the funds at the disposal of the panchayat samitis and the influence it has on the local-level politics.While the BJD claimed that it has set a target to win the post in at least 275 to 280 blocks out of the 314, BJP and Congress maintained that the situation is not so rosy for the ruling party. They claimed that the performance of the BJD has not percolated down to the grassroots level.
General secretary of the BJP Golak Mohapatra claimed that the party is targeting to win the post in at least 150 blocks. The BJP supporters have won many posts of panchayat samiti members.Similarly, Congress is hoping to win at least 20 to 25 panchayat samiti chairperson posts in this election. Party spokesperson Manoranjan Das said that Congress is hopeful that party-supported candidates will win the post in Koraput, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Balangir districts.
Both the BJP and Congress targeted the BJD for resorting to corruption ahead of the election to the post. Senior Congress leader Santosh Singh Saluja alleged that the BJD is offering Rs 5 to Rs 10 lakh to each Independent candidate and also candidates backed by BJP and the Congress.
BJP leader Prithviraj Harichandan alleged that the BJD leaders are trying to influence the samiti members by any means. “Since the mandate in the panchayat polls has not been completely in favour of the BJD, its leaders are making every attempt to influence the block chairperson elections by muscle and money,” he added. In 2017 panchayat elections, BJD supported candidates had won 218 panchayat samitis while Congress and BJP supported candidates won 45 and 29 panchayat samitis respectively.