BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced the names of candidates for mayor posts of three municipal corporations that are set to go to polls on March 24.
While State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities Sulochana Das has been announced the BJD’s mayor candidate for Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Rajya Sabha MP Subash Chandra Singh will be the party’s nominee for the post in Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). Sanghamitra Dalei, president of the women’s wing for Ganjam district, has been nominated as the candidate for Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
It is for the first time that a Rajya Sabha member has been made a candidate for a city mayor. Singh has more than four years remaining of his tenure as the MP.
The BJP also announced the name of well-known writer and social activist Suniti Mund as its mayor candidate for BMC. The announcement was made by the party’s Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi. The saffron party, however, is yet to announce candidates for CMC and BeMC.
Congress has already announced Madhusmita Acharya and Giribala Behera as the party’s mayoral candidates for BMC and CMC. It is also yet to announce its candidate for BeMC.
Race begins as MAYOR faces revealed
Sulochana Das
Sulochana Das, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, has been announced as the BJD’s mayor candidate for Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). A former journalist turned politician and ex-spokesperson of the ruling BJD, Das was appointed as the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities in March, 2019.
She is the first State Commissioner for Persons with disabilities appointed by the government. Previously, the Secretary of the Women and Child Development department was ex-officio in charge of the post. Das started her political career in Congress. She had joined the party in 2013 and was appointed as the spokesperson. She was appointed as one of the general secretaries of the party when Prasad Harichandan became the OPCC president in 2015 and also continued as the spokesperson.
Das, however, quit the party to join the ruling BJD in June 2017 because of rampant factionalism in the State unit of Congress. Thanking the Chief Minister for reposing faith in her, Das told media persons that if elected, she will work for the overall development of the Bhubaneswar city with the help of the BMC Commissioner and others.
Subash Singh
BJD Rajya Sabha member and trade union leader Subash Chandra Singh has been announced as the party’s candidate for the post of mayor for Cuttack Municipal Corporation. It is for the first time that a Rajya Sabha member has been made a mayoral candidate in the civic body elections. Singh was elected to Rajya Sabha on March 24, 2020. Being one of the most senior leaders of the party, he holds the position of BJD treasurer.
He also served as the national spokesperson of the party for some time. Before he was elected as a Rajya Sabha member, Singh was the chairperson of the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board for two consecutive terms. He is also a founder member and general secretary of Biju Shramik Shamukhya, the trade union wing of the BJD.
Singh was the president of the Cuttack Bachao Committee, an all-party initiative created in 2006 which played a key role in the development of Cuttack. He was also the president of the Biju Yuva Vanihi before entering Parliament. Stating that he was happy to be nominated by the BJD as its candidate for the post of mayor of CMC, Singh said he will work hard for the development of Cuttack city if elected.
Sanghamitra Dalei
Sanghamitra Dalei, president of the women’s wing of the Ganjam district BJD has been announced as the party’s candidate for the mayor post of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC). Dalei was earlier with Congress and later joined the BJD. She has a good presence at the grassroots and also served as a corporator in BeMC.
She was elected as a corporator in BeMC twice on Congress ticket in 2008 and 2013. She, however, left the party when around 60 leaders of the party led by senior leader Chandrasekhar Sahu left the Congress in 2013. After joining the BJD, she was elected as a corporator of the civic body. Sanghamitra told media persons that she will take forward the good work and standards set by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Thanking the Chief Minister for announcing her as the party’s candidate for the prestigious post, Sanghamitra said that he has kept all the promises made to the people by initiating several schemes. Stating that she is looking forward to the challenging job, Sanghamitra said if given an opportunity she will work towards further development of the city with a focus on resolving issues affecting the local people.
Suniti Mund
The BJP has named writer and social activist Suniti Mund as the party’s mayoral candidate for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). Making the announcement on Saturday, BJP MP from Bhubaneswar Aprajita Sarangi said,
“We have received several applications and shortlisted 25 candidates. After exhaustive deliberations and approval of State BJP president Samir Mohanty, we decided to field Suniti.” Coming from a literary background, Suniti has authored as many as 28 books and is associated with media and journalism for over a decade. She has also produced and directed many non-fictional serials telecast on Doordarshan and other channels. Suniti is the managing director of Dakshya Ventrue Pvt. Ltd. and the chairperson of Dakshya Charitable Trust.
She holds a masters’ degree in Odia from Sambalpur University, PG Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from IIIMC, PG Diploma in Rural Development from IGNOU, Delhi, and Hindi Ratna from Rastra Vasha, Wardha, Sarangi informed. She thanked the BJP for reposing faith in her for the mayoral candidate for BMC. “I will try my best to make Bhubaneswar a beautiful city and improve the slums,” she said.