Bhubaneswar: In a jolt to the all-party committee, election will be held in Kotia in Koraput district.
Despite marathon efforts by three major political parties – BJD, BJP and Congress – to avoid election and go for selection in Kotia, an independent candidate will be contesting against consensus candidate Mamata Jani.
As per reports, Tikai Gamel will contest for the Zilla Parishad (ZP) member post from zone 1 of Pottangi block in the ensuing Panchayat elections in the district.
All-party committee convenor and BJD leader Iswar Chandra Panigrahi that it’s a conspiracy to field a candidate against Mamata Jani in the election. However, they will support the consensus candidate, he added.
In the wake of infringement attempts of Andhra Pradesh in Kotia, the leaders of BJD, BJP and Congress had decided to select consensus candidates for the posts of ZP, sarpanch, samiti and ward members instead of going to the polls in Kotia to show unanimity among political parties of the State.