Koraput: As decided by three major parties earlier, a consensus candidate has filed nomination papers for Zilla Parishad member post in the election to Kotia panchayat in the district.
The candidate, Mamata Jani, a graduate of Thuria village in the panchayat, was selected by ruling BJD and opposition BJP and Congress for the post. She filed her papers at the sub-collector’s office, here on the last day of filing nominations on Friday.
In order to thwart the designs of Andhra Pradesh to meddle in the panchayat elections in Kotia, the three major parties of the state had decided to select consensus candidates for different posts instead of going for elections.
The decision was taken at an all-party meeting on Thursday. The meeting was presided by Koraput district president of BJD Ishwar Panigrahi, who is the convener of the all-party committee. Jairam Pangi of BJP and Minakshi Bahinipati of Congress represented their parties.
It was also decided that the candidate selected for any post will resign from respective party. Besides, all the candidates will be selected from the panchayat only.
Mamata does not have links with any party nor is she a relative of any political leaders of Koraput. She will not exercise her voting right in case of a tie while forming the ZP council.
The agenda behind selecting Mamata is to protect the disputed areas of Kotia from frequent infiltration attempts by Andhra Pradesh, says Ishwar Panigrahi, dictrict BJD president.
