Over 2.2 Lakh Nominations Found Valid For Panchayat Polls In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: More than 2.2 lakh nominations filed for the three-tier panchayat elections in the state have been found valid at the end of scrutiny on Sunday.

According to State Election Commission (SEC), out of total 2,29,062 nominations filed at the end of the process on Friday, 2,20,414 papers have been found valid. As many as 8,648 papers have been rejected on various grounds during the scrutiny on Sunday.

Out of 1,62,297 sets of papers filed for ward member posts, 56,753 nominations have been declared valid by the Commission on the day.

While 34,613 nominations were filed for sarpanch post, 32,860 nominations are valid. Similarly, of 28,153 nominations for panchayat samiti, 27,034 have been found to be correct.

For Zilla Parishad posts, 3,999 nominations were filed and 3,767 papers have been declared valid allowing those candidates to contest in the elections.

As per the schedule announced by the SEC, the process of filing the nomination papers continued from January 17 to 21 and the scrutiny of papers was done on Sunday.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is January 25 and the final list of candidates will be declared on January 25.

The panchayat elections will be held in five phases from February 16 to 24. Results will be declared on February 26, 27 and 28.