Parties announce candidates

BHUBANESWAR: Battle lines have been drawn for a triangular contest in the panchayat polls with the three major political parties finalising their candidates as only a day remains for filing of the nomination papers.The three political parties, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim to have announced candidates for all the 854 Zilla Parishad seats. But problems persist for all the three parties with large number of aspirants disappointed over not being given a ticket.As the process of selection of candidates is over, the political parties will now have to grapple with the problem of rebel candidates. On an average there are at least half dozen aspirants for each of the Zilla Parishad (ZP) seats who will turn rebels. The political parties are now busy trying to keep the problem to a minimum. A clear picture will emerge after the scrutiny of candidatures and the political parties as well as the candidates will be able to concentrate on campaigning. Meanwhile, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has decided to bring to the notice of the State Election Commission (SEC) continuation of road and other construction work in the rural areas of the State and demand a stop to it.In the name of continuing with the flood restoration work, the State Government is flouting the model code of conduct, OPCC general secretary Arya Kumar Gyanendra said.Gyanendra alleged that the construction work has gained momentum after the Centre released flood assistance of Rs 921 crore. New projects have been merged with continuing project to bypass the code of conduct, Gyanendra said.Stating that tenders had not been floated for these projects, Gyanendra alleged that there are chances of large-scale irregularities. The Central fund is likely to be misused as election fund of the BJD, he said.He said the OPCC would submit a memorandum to the SEC on Thursday in this connection and seek his intervention to stop construction work in almost every flood-affected village.