Panchayat Polls: Reservation Draft List Prepared In Haste, Has Several Faults; Alleges BJP

Bringing serious allegations against the Odisha government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that the draft list of reservation which was published on Friday has several faults because it has been prepared in haste.

BJP Spokesperson, Prithviraj Harichandan told reporters on Saturday that the State government had initially said that there won’t be any change in reservation categories. “Then later they said there will be reservations. The proposals for reservations were received by the Blocks on October 6 and then they prepared the list and sent it back on October 8," he said, adding, “It was done in a haste and there seems to be no clarity on the procedure and yard stick followed."

Similarly, the Congress party too slammed the Odisha government by also terming the list ‘faulty’.

"The BDOs have been influenced by the local political leaders to prepare the reservation list," alleged veteran Congress leader and Jeypore MLA, Tara Prasad Bahinipati.

It is pertinent to mention here that the State government on Friday published the draft lists of reservations for the upcoming three-tier Panchayat elections in Odisha.

The reservation list contains a total of 6,800 Sarpanch and Samiti members, 92,000 Ward members, 853 Zilla Parishad members and 314 Block presidents which was published on Friday.

As per the order, Candidates willing to object to the allotment of reservation for the posts of Ward member, Sarpanch, Samiti member and Block Chairman can file claims by October 16. The disposal of the claims shall be done by the Collectors at the district level by October 21. The final list of reservation will be published on October 26.