The election to the Naib Sarpanch post for Dhinkia Panchayat was held on Monday and Shantilata Behera, a member of a pro-Posco outfit was elected as the new Naib Sarpanch defeating her rival Shantilata Das, a sponsored candidate from an anti-Posco group by four votes.
Twenty-three ward members and the Sarpanch cast their votes in the election and Shantilata Behera secured 14 votes and Shantilata Das 10 votes.After pro-Posco group candidate Salila Nayak had bagged the Sarpanch post in the recently-held Panchayat elections, the Naib Sarpanch election was an acid test for the anti-Posco groups, especially for PPSS leader Abhay Sahoo who was struggling hard in favour of his sponsored candidate.
Elaborate police arrangements had been made for the elections and Ersama Block Development Officer PK Nanda had been deputed as the election officer.