Koraput: The members of the all-party committee formed for Kotia panchayat held talks with two independent candidates who are in the fray against the consensus candidate Mamata Jani, Saturday on the sidelines of nomination scrutiny.
Notably, BJD, BJP and the Congress have chosen Jani as the consensus candidate for Zilla Parishad seat (Pottangi zone-1) in Kotia panchayat Friday.
Jani is a graduate and a resident of Thuria. Jani’s rivals are Tikai Gemel and Sabina Budia. They have filed their nominations for the same zone as independent candidates.
All-party committee members Koraput BJD president Ishwar Chandra Panigrahi, BJP leader Jayaram Pangi, Pottangi MLA Pritam Padhi, Koraput MLA Raghuram Padal, former MLA Ramchandra Kadam and Prafulla Pangi talked to both the rival candidates to take back their nominations so that Jani would win uncontested.
The talks are expected to be fruitful Sunday. The last date of withdrawal of nominations is January 25. Nine people have filed their nominations for sarpanch while 14 have filed papers for ward members.
PNN