Other States - Orissa

Congress fares well in Kandhamal district

BERHAMPUR: As a respite from the drubbing it got in the Bhubaneswar Corporation polls, the Congress fared well in the elections for urban bodies in Kandhamal district.

Although the Congress could manage to get more councillors elected than the BJD and the BJP at the Phulbani municipality and the G.Udaygiri Notified Area Council (NAC) yet the independents hold the key for the election of the chairpersons.

Counting of votes casted into Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) started at 8 a.m. at Panchayat Bhavan in Phulbani and Government Girls’ High School at G.Udaygiri on Wednesday amidst tight security. The counting ended in two hours at G.Udaygiri while in Phulbani the counting was over by noon.

Out of the 13 wards of Phulbani municipality, the Congress candidates won in five, BJD grabbed four, its ally BJP won in two while two independents have managed to make it to the Council. According to Kamal Kumar Behera an independent who has won neither the Congress nor the BJD-BJP alliance would be able to get their chairperson elected without the help of independents at Phulbani. Murchhana Swain, an elected Congress councillor said they were confident to grab the post of chairperson. But the BJD-BJP alliance would also try hard to grab the post.

At G.Udaygiri the Congress was slightly better poised. It won in six out of 13 wards. The BJD candidates won in four, BJP won in one and the two independents have also won. Here also the independents hold the key.

It was a high profile campaigning with State-level leaders taking part in the campaign at these two urban bodies. Yet no party received clear majority which hints that people voted for candidates rather than parties. The political observers feel such a verdict would only initiate horse trading by political parties as both the Congress and the BJD-BJP alliance want to show up their strength in Kandhamal district.

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