A total of 38 candidates belonging to various political parties withdrew their nominations on the last day of the withdrawal of nominations on Thursday, leaving 394 valid candidates in the BMC poll fray. The State Election Commission has released the final list of candidates for the January 8 polls.
Of 38, two candidates have withdrawn their nominations from Ward-21, where 21 valid nominations were filed.
Now, 186 Independents and 141 belonging to different political parties will struggle to win councilor seats.
The ruling BJD has fielded candidates in all the 67 wards while the Congress has fielded candidates in 62 and the BJP in 66 wards.
Meanwhile, the SEC has called an all-party meeting on Friday to thrash out the model code of conduct and law and order issues. The meeting will be chaired by the Khordha district Collector at the OUAT premises.