By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: With no nominations filed for over 4,000 posts for panchayat elections, State Election Commissioner (SEC) Aditya Prasad Padhi on Tuesday acknowledged a notification might be issued on January 27 to offer a second likelihood to the aspirants to file papers. As per the SEC, whereas no nominations have been filed for over 4,000 seats of ward members, no response has been acquired for six seats of sarpanch and 7 panchayat samiti members.
The SEC stated the official notification for submitting of the contemporary nomination papers might be introduced on January 27. Aspiring candidates can file their nomination papers between January 29 and 31 and scrutiny might be held on February 1. Candidates can withdraw their papers from February 2 to 4 and subsequently, the ultimate listing of the candidates might be introduced.
Stating that this would be the last likelihood for the candidates to file their nominations for the forthcoming panchayat polls, the SEC stated that if nominations will not be filed from some particular locations, the sub-collectors will choose the sarpanch and ward members for these seats.The Panchayati Raj division will choose candidates for the vacant seats of panchayat samiti members. He stated that is the ultimate likelihood and elections to those constituencies might be scrapped if nominations will not be filed.
The SEC stated a detailed watch is being stored on tips for the panchayat elections and a call might be taken concerning the rules for campaigning. “We are keeping a strong vigil on the Covid-19 situation in the State and accordingly a decision about the guidelines for panchayat election campaigning will be taken soon,” he added.
The final date for withdrawal of nomination papers was January 25 for the panchayat polls which might be held in 5 phases between February 16 and 24. As many as 8,648 nomination papers submitted by candidates for election to numerous positions had been rejected throughout scrutiny on Sunday. These included nomination papers for five,544 ward members, 1,753 sarpanchs, 1,119 panchayat samiti members and 232 zilla parishad zones.
