Odisha ULB Polls: BJP Names Suniti Mund As BMC Mayor Candidate

The BJP has named well known writer and social activist Suniti Mund as the party’s Mayor candidate for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) ahead of the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) polls in the State.

The announcement was made by party’s Bhubaneswar MP Aprajita Sarangi on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference, Sarangi said, “Following approval of Odisha unit BJP chief Sameer Mohanty, we have named Dr Suniti Mund as party’s Mayor candidate for BMC for the ensuing ULB elections. After rigorous meetings and brain storming sessions, we have selected Dr Mund as the Mayoral candidate out of the 25 applicants,” Sarangi added.

Dr Mund comes from a strong literary background and has authored as many as 28 books. She posses a Masters’ Degree in Odia from Sambalpur University, PG Diploma in Journalism & Mass Communication from IIMC, PG Diploma in Rural Development from IGNOU, Delhi and Hindi Ratna from Rastra Vasha, Wardha, Sarangi informed.

“I am thankful that the BJP and the party workers have named me as the Mayor candidate for BMC. I will try my best to make Bhubaneswar a beautiful city with the help of party leaders,” Dr Mund said.

“Many slums in the city still lack proper road. There are still lacuna in health, education and sanitation in the capital city,” she added.

Earlier in the day, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) announced names of the party's Mayor candidates for three municipal corporations for the ensuing ULB polls.

Subash Singh, Sulochana Das and Sanghamitra Dalei have been named as the Mayor candidates of BJD for Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), and Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), respectively.

On the other hand, Congress has already named former corporator Giribala Behera as the party's Mayor candidate for the CMC and Madhismita Acharya for BMC. However, the party is yet to announce Mayoral candidate for BeMC.

The State Election Commission (SEC) had earlier announced elections to 106 ULBs and three Municipal Corporations on March 24. The counting will take place on March 26. 

The three Municipal Corporations will have a total of 168 Wards and 1,407 polling booths. These include 67 Wards and 705 booths in BMC, 59 Wards and 452 booths in CMC, and 42 Wards and 250 booths in BeMC.