3 women candidates in fray as parties announce mayor nominees for Bhubaneswar
India Today
The BJD, the BJP, and the Congress announced their mayor nominees for Bhubaneswar municipal corporation on Saturday.
All three major political parties in Odisha- the BJD, the BJP, and the Congress- announced the names of their mayor candidates for the March 24 urban local body polls to elect Bhubaneswar's first woman mayor. According to the Odisha Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2018, the mayor will be directly elected by the people and not from the ward councilors.
In January, the Odisha government finalised delimitation of wards and reservation of seats for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Berhampur municipal corporations. A notification issued in this regard by the Housing and Urban Development department stated that the post of mayor has been reserved for women in Bhubaneswar and Berhampur municipal corporations while it remains unreserved in Cuttack.
Ahead of March 24 polls, all eyes were on the announcement of mayor candidates.
On Saturday, the ruling BJD announced names of the party's mayor candidates for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Berhampur municipal corporations. Journalist-turned-politician Sulochana Das was named party’s mayor candidate for Bhubaneswar, while Subhash Singh and Sanghamitra Dalei have been named as the mayor candidates for Cuttack and Berhampur respectively.
The BJD recently swept the three-tier panchayat polls with record 52.73 per cent votes. The BJD won 766 seats out of total 851 seats, while the BJP and the Congress could secure victory on 42 and 37 seats respectively.
Speaking to India Today, Sulochna Das said, “I would like to thank party supremo CM Naveen Patnaik, leader and workers for showing faith in a common and disciplined party worker like me. Also the Mayor post of Capital city comes with a huge responsibility. It is very important as it is not only the capital city but also represents Odisha in every aspect. If I get support from Bhubaneswar residents, then with the help of BMC commissioner, workers and others will work to make the city number 1 and slum-free."
BJD’s nominee Sulochana Dad did her early education from Binjharpur village school. After completing her graduation from Bhadrak college, she did her post graduation from Ravenshaw University. Later she completed her Masters in Economics and Master in Journalism and Mass Communication, as well as got a LLB Degree from a reputed institution.
