Bhubaneswar: As many as 52,868 candidates have filed their nomination papers on the third day of the nomination filing process for the ensuing three-tier Panchayat elections in Odisha.
As per the State Election Commission (SEC), 37232 nominations have been filed for the post of Ward Members, 8947 for Sarpanches, 6205 for Panchayat Samiti Members and 484 for Zilla Parishad (ZP) members.
The nomination filing process will continue till January 21. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on January 22 while candidates can withdraw nominations up to January 25.
The final list of contesting candidates will be published on January 25.
The elections will be held in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 amid strict adherence of Covid guidelines.
Over 2.79 crore rural voters will exercise their franchise in the polls to elect 91,913 Ward Members, 6,794 Sarpanches, 6,793 Panchayat Samiti Members and 853 Zilla Parishad Members.