The State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced fresh dates for filing nominations for the upcoming panchayat polls to the constituencies where nominations have not been filed or rejected on various grounds.
Now, the aspirants can file their nomination papers for Ward Members, Sarpanches, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad Members between January 29 and 31.
“The candidates are being given second chance to file nomination for panchayat elections to different wards, sarpanches and panchayat samiti in constituencies where no nominations were filled or nominations were rejected. We found that no application has been received from over 4,000 areas to contest the polls to the posts of Ward Members, Sarpanches, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad Members,” State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi told reporters.
The notification in this regard will be officially released on January 27. The nomination papers will be verified on February 1. The nomination can be withdrawn on February 4. The final list of candidates will be announced in the evening of February 4.
“If no candidates will file the nominations from those places, the State Government will select the local representatives for the posts without election,” the SEC stated.
The panchayat elections are scheduled in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. The counting of votes will take place at block and Sadar levels on February 26, 27 and 28.