A clean sweep for BJD in Odisha Zilla Parishad President polls

Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today scripted history by winning the post of President of Zilla Parishad (ZP) in all 30 districts of the State. A total of 20 ZP Presidents are women.

BJD’s Debaki Sahu was elected ZP President in Balangir district, Manini Bhoi in Bargarh, Tulabati Minz in Jharsuguda, Archana Puhana in Dhenkanal, Motiram Nayak in Nabarangpur, Debasish Patnaik in Nayagarh, Swapna Rani Swain in Puri, Babita Pradhan in Angul, Prabhasini Das in Boudh district.

The ruling party’s Puspendra Kumar Singhdeo claimed victory as ZP President in Kalahandi district, Sagarika Sahu in Keonjhar, Kaushik Kumar Pradhan in Deogarh, Bharati Hansda in Mayurbhanj, Supar Thela in Subarnapur, Dali Majhi in Nuapada, Manoj Bhoi in Jagatsinghpur, Kishore Chandra Mishra in Cuttack, Anjali Swain in Ganjam, Gitanjali Sethy in Kendrapara, Prafulla Jena in Bhadrak, Tikai Gemel in Koraput, Kunti Pradhan in Sundargarh district.

Nandini Malika from BJD won as ZP President in Kandhamal district, Saraswati Majhi in Rayagada, Narayan Pradhan in Balasore, Naliniprabha Jena in Jajpur, Samari Dangulu in Malkangiri, Rupashri Rani Gumansingh in Khordha, Kumudini Nayak in Sambalpur and Tirupati Rao in Gajapati district.

During the recently concluded three-tier panchayat election BJD recorded a landslide victory. Out of 852 Zilla Parishads, BJD won 766 seats, followed by BJP and Congress with 42 and 37 seats, respectively. Independents and other parties claimed victory from seven seats.