Election to the post of chairman in Panchayat samitis across Odisha is all set to begin today at 10:30 am. The newly elected Samiti members will elect their leaders in their respective Panchayat Samitis.
As per the schedule, the candidates for the chairman post can file their nomination papers from 10:30 till 11 am. The election process will be completed by 1 pm. However, the election to the post of deputy chairman will be held on March 23.
Meanwhile, a Samiti Member from the Ramnaguda Block in Rayagada district named Appa Rao was reportedly detained by the local Police to prevent a possible law and order situation during the block chairman election today. Rao is a member of a faction in the 11-member Panchayat Samiti in Ramnaguda.
In an instance of alleged horse trading ahead of the chairman election today, family of a Samiti Member in Tarajanga Panchayat under Tirtol block of Jagatsinghpur district, Gurubari Murmu has alleged that Gurubari has been kidnapped by some miscreants to keep her away from the election.
An FIR has been registered by her father Ramanath Murmu with the local Police against two persons of the Panchayat.
“My daughter Gurubari was a nominee for the chairman position. So, I suspect that people from the rival faction have kidnapped her,” said Ramanath.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State General Secretary, Lekhashree Samantasinghar had earlier accused the Odisha government of targeting party-backed Panchayat Samiti members ahead of the election to block chairman posts in the State.
Addressing a presser in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, the BJP leader had accused the State government of threatening Samiti members of implicating them in false cases. "The Samiti members are being threatened of being booked on kidnapping charges. Even they are intimidated of being trapped in cases under the National Security Act (NSA), the BJP leader had alleged.