Bhubaneswar: With the completion of term of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the state government Wednesday appointed Cooperation secretary Krishan Kumar as the administrator of the civic body.
The five-year term of the BMC expired Wednesday (January 16, 2019) and Kumar will now discharge the duties of the corporation and its Mayor till the date of the first meeting of the newly elected corporators. Housing and Urban Development department has issued a notification in this regard.
Elections to the BMC and many other urban local bodies (ULBs) could not take place in due time because a case is pending in Supreme Court related to reservation of seats in the civic bodies.
Last year, the Orissa High Court had asked the state government that reservation of seats for SCs, STs and other categories should not exceed 50 per cent. Challenging this order, the state moved the Supreme Court, which had rejected the plea. However, the state government again filed a review petition before the apex court and the case is still pending.
In the last BMC elections held in 2014, BJD had won 49 out of the 67 seats and Ananta Narayan Jena was elected as the Mayor for the second consecutive term.
