JAJPUR: Reservation of chairperson posts for women in two municipal bodies of Jajpur has come as a blow to aspiring candidates who had started prepping up for the upcoming election to the urban local bodies (ULBs). The decision about the reservation was announced in the draft list released by the State government last week.
For Jajpur municipality, the post of a chairperson has been reserved for a woman in the general category while that for Vyasanagar civic body open only for an SC woman. The said posts, which were unreserved earlier, will be directly elected by the people following amendment to the Odisha Municipal Rules, 1994.
The declaration, however, has not gone done well with the male candidates who had their eyes set on the post under Jajpur municipality. It seems women candidates in the general category too have also not taken the decision on Vyasanagar reservation properly.
“I was aspiring for the ruling party ticket to contest for the chairperson position in Vyasanagar but all my hopes have now been shattered after the announcement of reservation for the post,” said an aspirant on condition of anonymity.
Sources said, Jajpur municipality has been a BJD citadel and home turf of the party’s organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das, son of late Janata Dal leader Ashok Das, for the past three decades.