The Hindu 07.12.2013
BMC polls to be held on Jan. 8
It will have a new administrator to oversee day-to-day functioning
Election to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will
be held on January 8 next, announced the State Election Commission
(SEC) here on Friday.
BMC, tenure of which ends by
December this year, will have a new administrator to oversee the
day-to-day functioning till new corporation in complete shape takes over
the charge by February.
Addressing a press
conference here, SEC Ajit Kumar Tripathy said election will be held for
67 wards in BMC from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on January 8 while the election
for mayor is scheduled on January 17 and the election for deputy mayor
will be held on February 5.
As per the election
calendar, the process of nomination will commence from December 16 and
nominations will be scrutinised after a week on December 23.
Candidates
could withdraw nominations within next three days by December 26. SEC
will publish the final list of candidates on the same day.
Announcement
of election to BMC was delayed on account of cyclone and flood
rehabilitation and other technical obstacles such as delimitation and
re-organisation.
Election will be held in 666 booths whereas number of voters who will exercise their voting rights stands at 690239.
According
to SEC, of the 67 wards, 34 will be reserved for women. Of the 34,
three are for Scheduled Caste, two for Scheduled Tribe, 10 for socially
and economically backward classes and another 19 are for general
category candidates.
With the announcement of the
elections, the model code of conduct has come into force and it will
remain in force till January 9.
Mr. Tripathy said government cannot initiate any new work within BMC limit and neighbouring gram panchayats.
The
Commission has appointed two IAS officers as poll observers while three
Odisha Finance Service officers have been designated as expenditure
observers. The ceiling for expenditure is Rs. 50,000.
