Panchayat polls: Filing of nomination papers begins

Bhubaneswar: While leading political parties are in the process of finalizing their candidates, the filing of nomination papers for the ensuing panchayat elections in Odisha will begin on Wednesday.

Nomination papers for the three-tier panchayat polls would be filed between January 11 and January 17 except government holidays, said state election commission (SEC).

The scrutiny of the papers will be carried out on January 18, the candidates can withdraw their nominations by January 21.  The final list of candidates will be published on the same day, said SEC.

Meanwhile, the three political parties-BJD, Congress and BJP-are yet to declare their candidates for Zila Parishad zones as hectic lobbies have started among the party men to get tickets for the polls.

While Congress and BJD have almost finalized their candidates, the ruling BJD is grappling with the internal feud with several leaders lobbying hard to get tickets.

A meeting of Congress election committee was held at Congress Bhawan here on Tuesday to discuss the names of potential candidates for all 852 Zilla Parishad seats across the state.