Odisha: Over 2.29 lakh nomination papers filed for Panchayat polls

Bhubaneswar, Jan 22 (IANS) Over 2.29 lakh nomination papers have been filed by candidates for election to various posts in three tier Panchayat election in Odisha, officials said on Friday.According to the officials in the State Election Commission, as many as 1,62,297 nominations have been filed for the post of ward member while 34,613 nominations filed for the post of Sarpanch.Similarly, candidates have submitted 28,153 nomination papers for the election to Panchayat Samiti members and 3,999 for Zilla Parishad member post.The election was announced for 91,913 ward member posts, 6,794 Sarpanches, 6,793 Panchayat Samiti members and 853 Zilla Parishad members. However, no one has filed nomination for Sarpanch, Samiti member or Ward member posts in five Panchayats of Deogarh district due to lack of mobile connectivity.The nomination filing process started on January 17 and ended on Friday (January 21). Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on January 22.Candidates can withdraw their nomination upto January 25 and the final list of candidates will be published on January 25.As per the schedule, the Panchayat elections will be held in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. Counting of votes and declaration of results will be done at Block level on February 26, 27 and 28.
--IANS bbm/pgh

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