Panchayat Polls: BJP Supported Candidate Issued Notice For Filing ‘False’ Affidavit In Odisha’s Keonjhar

Keonjhar: The District Election Officer has issued a notice to a BJP supported candidate for zilla parishad member post in the panchayat elections for filing a false affidavit about criminal cases against him.

According to sources, the candidate for zilla parishad post of zone No 34, Bibekananda Rout had filed the mandatory affidavit mentioning details about him at the time of filing his nomination paper. In the affidavit submitted to the District Election Officer, Rout declared that he was not convicted in any criminal cases.

Later, the BJD candidate for the same post, Somnath Das filed a complaint with the Election Officer alleging that Rout had been convicted in a criminal case registered in 2007.

Acting on the allegation, the Election Officer and Sub-Collector, Anandpur registered a complaint against Rout and ordered a probe into the matter.

After the allegation was found factually correct, the Election Officer issued the notice to Rout.