As many as five members of panchayat samiti (MPSs) and 811 ward members have been declared elected uncontested in the upcoming three-tier panachayat elections going to be held in five phases in Kendrapada district.
Two MPSs of Pattamundai and one each MPS of Ali, Rajkanika and Marshaghai have been elected unopposed.
These MPSs include Kendrapada MlA Kishore Tarai’s wife Babita Tarai, who is in controversy due to the allegation that her husband, in an unholy alliance with the then BDO-cum-Election Officer of Pattamundai got nomination papers of her two rivals withdrawn by adopting fraudulent means.
According to district Collector-cum-District Election Officer Muralidhar Mallik, the district administration has identified as many as 568 booths out of the total 3,698 in nine blocks as sensitive. The highest numbers of sensitive booths are in Ali and Rajkanika blocks