Bhubaneswar, Jan 17 (PTI) Filing of nominations by candidates for the upcoming three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha began across the state on Monday, and it will continue till January 21, an official said.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is January 25, and scrutiny will be done on January 22, he said.

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Over 2.79 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the panchayat polls that will be held in five phases - February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 from 7 am to 1 pm. Counting of votes will take place on February 26, 27 and 28.

"On the first day, as many as 7,116 candidates have filed their papers for ward members, 1,122 people for sarpanchs, 512 for panchayat samiti members and 22 for zilla parishad member posts," State Election Commission Secretary R N Sahoo said.

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)