32,173 Ward member candidates elected unopposed in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Jan 24 (UNI) As many as 32,172 candidates contesting for the Ward member posts in the three - tier Panchayat bodies elections in Orissa were declared elected uncontested.

According to State Election Commission (SEC) office sources, 101 candidates for the Sarpanch post and 243 candidates for the Panchayat Samiti member posts were also declared elected unopposed.

Elections to 55,279 ward members, 6133 Sarpanch and 5990 Panchayat samiti member posts would be held in five phases from February 13 to February 21 next in the state.

Sources said a maximum number of 3083 Ward member candidates, 38 Sarpanch members and 49 Samiti members from Ganjam district were found elected uncontested.

During the 2002 Panchayat elections in the state 38,150 ward members, 242 Sarpanch and 339 Panchayat Samiti members were declared elected unopposed.

SEC sources said in eight of the 30 districts in the state no Sarpanch candidate was declared unopposed while at least in three districts no Panchayat samiti member was found elected unopposed.

UNI