Phulbani: After the end of the nomination process, candidates for sarpanchs, samiti members and zilla parsihads have started their campaigning in Kandhamal district.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has been working on its strategies to improve its tally in zilla parishad elections as compared to 2017 elections. There are 68 candidates in the fray for 17 ZP zones in the district.
BJD, BJP and Congress have fielded 18 candidates each while seven people have thrown their hats into the ring as independents. Aam Aadmi Party has fielded four candidates while Kalinga Sena and Bahujan Mukti Morcha have fielded one each.
In the 2017 elections, the BJD had formed the ZP by registering victories in nine ZP zones. BJP and Congress had won four zones each. One independent had also won. The independent had supported the BJD in forming the ZP.
This time, Kandhamal MP Achyuta Samant (BJD) and party’s district observer and Panchayatiraj Minister Pratap Jena have been looking after the organisational activities in consultation with MLAs and frontline leaders in the district.
They are said to be working hard with hopes of making a clean sweep in the ZP elections. On the other hand, the BJP and Congress are trying their best to gain more ground in the district.
It is said that the Congress is ridden with rift in certain zones which may provide ample scope for the BJD and the BJP to improve the tally. In 1997 and 2002, Congress had formed the ZP while the BJD-BJP had formed ZP in 2007.
PNN