Hectic lobbying for zilla parishad post begins in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: With Ganjam zilla parishad president Subash Behera having resigned from the post after being elected as an MLA from the Chhatrapur assembly constituency in the recently concluded election, several aspirants of the ruling BJD have started lobbying for the prestigious position.
Behera resigned from the post of ZP president before being sworn-in as an MLA. He was elected from Chhatrapur, an SC-reserved constituency, by a margin of over 21,000 votes. Two years ago, he was elected from zone 19 in Chhatrapur block in the district. Later, he was unanimously chosen as the president of the ZP.
The president's post has become vacant following his resignation. Sources said apart from the post of president, the newly elected lawmaker also resigned from the membership of of zilla parishad from his zone after being elected as an MLA.
Following his resignation, several aspirants of the ruling party reportedly started lobbying for the post. Some of them include Snehalata Panda, present vice-president of ZP, Sashibhusan Mohanty, Prakash Chandra Das and Shankar Swain - all members of ZP and from the ruling party.
The ruling party will not face any problems in electing the new president as BJD has absolute majority in the 69-member parishad. At present, BJD has 64 out of 69 members followed by BJP (4) and Congress (one). The post of the president of ZP in the district is an unreserved one.