Bhubaneswar, January 23: As many as 8,648 nomination papers submitted by the candidates for three-tier elections to various positions in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have been rejected during the scrutiny done on January 22, official said on Sunday.
During the exercise, total 5,544 nominations filed for the election to Ward Member post were rejected followed by 1,753 nominations for Sarpanch posts, 1,119 for Panchayat Samiti Members and 232 Zilla Parishad (ZP) Members.
The nomination papers were rejected due to various reasons, including non submission of related documents and proper cast certificates, etc.
After scrutiny, 2,20,414 nomination papers have remained valid. Out of the total valid papers, 1,56,753 are for the post of Ward Member, 32,860 for Sarpanch, 27,034 for PS Member and 3,767 for ZP Member.
As per the notification issued by the State Election Commission (SEC), candidates can withdraw their nomination up to January 25 and the final list of candidates will be published on January 25.
The three-tier Panchayat elections will be held in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
Counting of votes and declaration of results will be done at block level on February 26, 27 and 28.
The voters will exercise their franchise from 7 AM to 1 PM. Over 2.79 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect 91,913 Ward Members, 6,794 Sarpanches, 6,793 Panchayat Samiti members and 853 Zilla Parishad members.
