Odisha's Local Poll Boycott Campaign Fails to Deter Nominations in Salur Mandal

PARVATHIPURAM-MANYAM: At least 20 nominations were filed for five Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) seats in Salur mandal despite Odisha’s local poll boycott campaign in the disputed Kotia region. The TDP filed 11 nominations for the five MPTC seats, the YSRCP nine and the CPI one. The disputed Kotia group of 21 villages have around 4,349 residents, and over 1,600 registered voters in the five MPTC segments, including Ganjaibhadra, Kurukuti, Sarika, Tonam and Kodama in Salur mandal. Kumari Habi Rashid, Deputy Commissioner, Odisha, camped in Kotia, and conducted field visits to several villages, including Ganjaibhadra, Eguva Sembi and Neredivalasa on the Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) to gauge public sentiment regarding the MPTC polls. During her visit, she interacted with locals, and enquired about their franchise in the local body elections conducted by the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission. Former Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik had written to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, urging decisive intervention to safeguard Odisha’s territorial integrity after the Government of AP released notification for the local body elections.