BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: Hectic lobbying has started among corporators in BJD camp for the post of deputy mayors in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack municipal corporations.More than a dozen aspirants are in race for the unreserved post in BMC for which election will be held on April 9 after oath taking of Mayor and corporators.
Amaresh Jena from Ward 45 is one among them. The three-time corporator has won with around 80 per cent of the total votes polled in his ward. An active BJD worker and public representative, Jena is a prominent contender for the post.
Biranchi Mahasupakar from Ward 59 is another top contender. Mahasupakar is also a popular BJD leader who has won corporator seat four times. Similarly, Mahamaya Swain, a three-time corporator from Ward 53, is also hopeful of being elected to the seat. K Shanti, who was the deputy mayor of BMC in the previous term from 2014 to 2019 and won the election for the third consecutive term this year, is another aspirant. Bharati Singh, who was also a deputy mayor previously, is also in the race.
In CMC, the election to the post will be held on April 7 at 10 am. Here, the ruling party bagged 38 corporator seats of the total 59. With the Mayor post being from Barabati-Cuttack Assembly segment, the post of deputy mayor is expected to be from the Choudwar-Cuttack Assembly segment. While CMC Mayor is male, the deputy mayor’s post has been set aside for a female corporator. Many corporators who have won two times consecutively and even made a hat-trick this time are lobbying for the post.