Berhampur: Even as seven women candidates are in the fray for the mayor post of Berhampur, the city is likely to witness a tripartite contest.
The candidates who are vying for the coveted post include Sanghamitra Dalei (BJD), Dr Sabita Suar Panigrahi (BJP), Manju Rath (Congress), C Priyanka (AAP), Sunita Panigrahi (SUCI), Tapaswini Nag (BSP) and Neeta Kumari Panda (Independent).
According to political analysts, though 7 candidates are contesting in the direction election to mayor post for the first time, the fight is likely to be confined to three major parties of BJD, BJP and Congress.
Considering the performance of the parties in the recently concluded panchayat elections, other parties are unlikely to hold much sway in the polling, they added.
Political heavyweights of the three parties have already campaigned for their respective candidates while the contestants have made door-to-door campaign which came to end on Tuesday evening.
Total 250 booths have been set up in the areas under Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) for the polling scheduled on March 24. Three BJD candidates will be elected uncontested after other candidates withdrew their nominations.
It may be noted that direct election for the chairman post the 155-year-old civic body was conducted for the first time in 1968 and second time in 1992 when it was a municipality. Brundaban Naik was elected as chairman defeating PV Jagannath Rao in 1968. Similarly, Chandra Sekhar Sahu of Congress defeated Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik of Janata Dal in 1992.
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