Bhubaneswar: With elections to three-tier panchayat elections over, the political parties are gearing up for the polls for urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state.
As per the notification of the State Election Commission (SEC), the nomination papers will be filed from February 2 to 7 for the ULB elections scheduled to be held on March 24. While the verification of the nomination papers will be conducted on March 9, the candidates can withdraw their papers by March 14. The counting of the votes polled in the elections will be held on March 26.
The SEC has introduced several new features for the ULB elections. For the first time, the electronic voting machine (EVM) will be used for the voters to exercise franchise. Similarly, there will be option of ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) for the voters.
Besides, the elections to the posts of mayor in municipal corporations and chairpersons of municipalities and NACs will be held directly for the first time after an amendment of the provisions under the law.
In the municipal corporation elections, there will be two EVMs in each booth. The voters will use one EVM to vote for the mayor/chairperson posts and the other for corporator/councillor posts.
The elections will be held for different posts in 106 Notified Area councils (NACs) and municipalities and three municipal corporations in the state. The elections for the posts of 7 vice-chairpersons and 8 mayors will be held on April 7. The Puri municipality is not going to the polls this time due to a case pending in the court.
It may be noted that the ULB elections will be held in the state after a delay of more than two years. Like panchayat elections, there will be no reservation of seats for the other backward classes (OBCs) as the state government is yet to comply with the triple test of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, aspiring candidates were found purchasing nomination papers from ADM office in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday morning.
In the last ULB elections held on September 19, 2013, the ruling BJD had won a clear majority in 44 out of total 66 urban civic bodies. The Congress was victorious in 12 places while the BJP could win from one ULB.
In the just concluded panchayat elections, the BJD is all set to form Zilla Parishads (ZP) in all 30 districts of the state by bagging 765 out of total 851 seats. Opposition BJP and Congress managed to get 42 and 37 seats respectively. Independent and others have won 7 seats.
