BHUBANESWAR: Filing of nomination papers for the three-tier panchayat polls will start from Saturday. The three major political parties __ the BJD, the Congress and the BJP __ have decided to contest all the 854 Zilla Parishad (ZP) seats.The panchayat polls will be a fiercely contested one as the three contenders leave nothing to chance to win the highest number of seats in the ZPs. The contest, a triangular one, will be a trailer for the 2014 Assembly elections.Distribution of tickets has already started. BJP spokesman Ashok Sahu said party candidates will start filing papers from Saturday at many places. It will start from Boudh and Kantamal Assembly constituencies, he said.The Congress has started distribution of tickets, general secretary of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Arjya Kumar Gyanendra said. Presidents of the District Congress Committee (DCCs) received applications from the aspirants and finalised the candidates. Tickets were distributed from the party headquarters here, he said.The BJD will also start ticket distribution from Saturday. Tickets have been decided with the recommendations of the party MLAs. Opinions of senior party leaders have been taken where the party is not represented in the Assembly. Workers’ conferences are being organised by different political parties at the grassroots level in view of the polls.While OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik and State BJP chief Jual Oram will spearhead the campaign of their respective parties, it is not yet clear whether Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will be available for the BJD for electioneering. Sources said a decision will taken within a couple of days.The Left parties and the NCP have also started the process of candidates selection. The Left parties will have seat adjustments and the CPM has decided to field 50 candidates.
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