Balasore: Since the results of panchayat elections have been declared, leaders of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been making all-out efforts to form the panchayat samiti by grabbing the post of chairperson in Balasore sadar block.
But, independents hold the key to tilting the equation to any side here. In the block comprising 37 panchayats, a party needs support of at least 19 samiti members to elect the block chairperson.
The BJD lacks the magic number of majority, as it has 15 samiti members. It still requires support of four samiti members to get the chairman post. Therefore, independents hold the key in the samiti formation in this block.
The BJP has 14 samiti members while independents were elected from 8 seats. In view of such a hung situation, both the BJD and the BJP have been trying their level best to woo maximum number of independents to their sides.
Meanwhile, many samiti members have gone into hiding. The post of chairperson was reserved for women of scheduled caste.
In the panchayat elections, the posts of samiti members have been reserved for scheduled caste category in Rasulpur, Kuradiha, Chhanua, Buanla and Ranasahi panchayats.
The post of samiti members in Rasalpur, Sasanaga, Odinga, Gudu and Jaydevaksaba panchayats was reserved for women of scheduled caste category.
Names of these samiti members are doing the rounds for the post of chairpersons to be fielded by both parties. The BJD and BJP have kept their own samiti members in some hotels, resorts and farmhouses in Puri, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, it is said.
Leaders In view of possible shores trading and cross voting, frontline leaders of both the parties have been maintaining strict vigil on these samiti members, who are denied communication access to anybody during the stay.
They will be holed up till forenoon of March 12 when election to the chairperson will be held.
PNN
