BHUBANESWAR: With Tuesday being the last date of withdrawing nomination for the three-tier panchayat elections, political parties spent Monday persuading rebel candidates to withdraw and gain an edge over rivals.
A state election commission (SEC) official said while there was withdrawal of nominations in most parts of the state, a clear picture will emerge by Tuesday evening as the process will continue till 3 in the afternoon. The final list of contestants will be published after that.
The BJD, which had been facing the maximum number of rebels, has managed the situation well with hardly any left in the fray, a party leader said.
The BJP alleged that one of its zilla parishad (ZP) candidates in Ambabhona block of Bargarh district and another in Jharsuguda district were under BJD pressure to withdraw their nomination papers. The Jharsuguda district unit of the BJP lodged a complaint with the police alleging that its Laikera ZP candidate, Sabyasini Pradhan, was being threatened to withdraw from the race by the BJD. She has lodged a complaint at Laikera police station.
“Instead of fighting, the BJD’s goons are threatening our candidates to withdraw from the race,” BJP state secretary Tankadhar Tripathy said. Jharsuguda SP Bikash Das said following a complaint by Sabyasini, that she was offered money to withdraw, a case has been registered and investigation has been launched.
The Congress moved the election commission alleging that the BJD had fielded a general candidate in a zilla parishad seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste.
The Congress said the BJD had fielded Jatadhari Das, a general candidate, in Balikuda zone-2 ZP seat in Jagatsinghpur district, instead of a SC candidate. The returning officer did not take action despite complaint, the party claimed, and apprised the SEC of the situation. The Congress sought cancellation of nomination papers of the BJD candidate and criminal proceedings against him.
