At a time when filing of nominations for the three-tier panchayat elections is underway, a race has begun among the woman aspirants of various political parties to grab the Baleswar Municipality chief post. The post is reserved for women.
Although it might change afterwards after receiving objections, yet several politically active women have upped the ante for the coveted post of the second oldest urban body of the State.
The Baleswar Municipality was formed after Kendrapada's and as per the latest notification, the post is reserved for women who will be elected directly. According to information, this is the third occasion when direct election for the post will be held and the last direct election for the post of Chairman was held in 1992 for the civic bodies. It may be noted that aspirants of not only BJD and BJP but also from Congress are in the race.
There are talks that a political person having no political experiences and having a societal influence might be fielded for the post. Most of the aspirants have begun campaigning in support of their candidatures using various social media platforms as tools. The top political leaders of three major parties are tight lipped and parried a query on probable women candidates; rather they maintained the top leadership of their party would take a call on the matter.
The Baleswar Municipality having population about 1.5 lakh (as per 2011 census) has 31 wards and in the last election, 24 councillors in BJD symbol had won and the Chairman post was held by the BJD.
It may be noted that for the rural polls the ticket distribution of political parties was delayed because of too many aspirants and infighting among their supporters.