Cuttack: Meenakshee Behera, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) corporator from ward No. 45 in Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), was elected unopposed as the new mayor of the city Friday.
Behera, the fourth mayor of the city, assumed office soon after her election to the coveted post, which fell vacant following the resignation recently of incumbent Anita Behera both as mayor and corporator of ward No. 21 after her name was found included in the beneficiaries’ list under National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The ruling BJD unanimously nominated Meenakshee Behera for the mayoral post. Cuttack Sadar MLA Chandra Sarathi Behera declared her name as the party’s mayoral candidate by reading out a communication from the party leadership at a meeting of BJD corporators. Barabati-Cuttack MLA Debashish Samantaray and his Choudwar-Cuttack counterpart Pravat Ranjan Biswal were also present at the meeting. However, women and child development minister Usha Devi, who was supposed to declare the BJD nominee’s name, did not participate in the meeting.
CMC sources said three sets of nominations were filed on behalf of Meenakshee Behera. BJD corporators Ranjita Biswal, Ranjan Biswal and Manoj Sethy proposed her name while Chitra Khuntia, Pralaya Beura and Pramod Mahapatra seconded it on the nominations.
With no other corporator filing a nomination, housing and urban development department additional secretary and returning officer for the mayoral poll, Sanjeev Mishra, announced Meenakshee Behera as the new mayor under Section 88 (B) of Reservation of Seats and Conduct of Election Rules, said sources.
Although Congress corporator Taapoi Sethy had reportedly collected a set of nomination papers from the returning officer, she did not deposit the same to contest for the coveted post due to unknown reasons.
Meenakshee Behera was escorted to her office by BJD corporators led by deputy mayor Ajay Kumar Barik soon after she was named Mayor. She was then welcomed with bouquets.
The Opposition Congress and BJP corporators, meanwhile, claimed that BJD did not have any “unblemished” candidate to be named for the mayoral post. “The new mayor, in some way or the other, was involved in similar irregularities for which Anita Behera had to tender her resignation,” said BJP corporator Baideshwar Panda.
Congress corporator Giribala Behera said, “The ruling party does not have an honest candidate for the mayoral post. The CMC council should have unanimously elected one of the two eligible corporators of my party to the post.” PNN