Cuttack: With only a day to go for the filing of nominations for elections to 106 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and three municipal corporations in Odisha, the ruling BJD and the Opposition BJP and Congress have announced their candidates for the post of Mayor of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). The BJP announced its candidate on Sunday.
Subhash Chandra Singh, BJD
Singh, currently a Rajya Sabha Member, said that the trust that people of Cuttack have in him and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will help him and the party come out with flying colours in the elections. The MP, who has worked for the city’s welfare through ‘Cuttack Banchao Samiti’, hopes to build a new Cuttack with the support of its people.
He was also the party’s national spokesperson and treasurer.
The BJD has retained the CMC Council for the last two terms.
Ollywood actor Sritam Das, BJP
The BJP on Sunday named Ollywood actor Sritam Das as the party’s Mayor candidate for the CMC. The announcement was made by Cuttack Nagar BJP president Lalatendu Badu.
“I have been given a new responsibility. The party has posed faith in me and I will try my best to deliver,” Das said.
“Firstly, I am a resident of Cuttack and the issues concerning the city are also mine. If elected as CMC Mayor, I will resolve the problems like drainage, JICA project, mosquitoes, potholes and healthcare services on a priority basis,” he added. “My only aim is to address the issues of the Millennium City.”
Das, who joined the BJP in 2014, has been a BJP star campaigner during several polls in Odisha.
The BJP bagged the first Mayor post after the CMC was formed in 2003.
Giribala Behera, Congress
Giribala is the president of the party’s city unit and was earlier elected as a CMC corporator. She is said to have played a key role in the election of Mohammed Moquim as the Cuttack-Barabati MLA in 2019.
Mayors of municipal corporations and chairpersons of municipalities and Notified Area Councils (NACs) will be directly elected in the elections to 106 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and three municipal corporations, which will be held on March 24 in the state after a delay of more than two years.
