BHUBANESWAR: Candidates for various posts in Odisha's three-tier Panchayat election have filed over 2.29 lakh nomination papers, officials said on Friday.

According to officials, with the State Election Commission, 1,62,297 nominations for the position of ward member have been made, while 34,613 nominations for the position of Sarpanch have been filed. Candidates have also submitted 28,153 nomination papers for Panchayat Samiti members and 3,999 nomination papers for Zilla Parishad members.

The election for 91,913 ward members, 6,794 Sarpanches, 6,793 Panchayat Samiti members, and 853 Zilla Parishad members has been announced. Due to a lack of mobile connectivity, no one has filed a nomination for the jobs of Sarpanch, Samiti member, or Ward member in the five Panchayats of Deogarh district.

The nomination filing period began on January 17 and ended on January 31. (January 21). On January 22, the nomination papers will be scrutinised.  Candidates have until January 25 to withdraw their nominations, after which the final list of candidates will be released.

The Panchayat elections will take held in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24, according to the schedule, with strict respect to Covid-19 rules. On February 26, 27, and 28, the votes will be counted and the results will be announced at the Block level.

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