19 elected representatives in Odisha quit

They complained of no development being done in their area

At least 19 elected representatives, including 'sarapanch' (village heads) and ward members, resigned in Odisha's Koraput district, complaining that no development was being done in their area, an official said Tuesday.

The representatives in Bandhugaon block who submitted their papers to the block development officer at Bandhugaon, about 500 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, Monday comprise five 'sarapanch' (village heads), 12 ward members and two samiti members, district collector S.R. Jadhav told IANS.

This comes less than a week after ten elected panchayat representatives in the region quit citing similar reasons.

Officials said the resignations cannot be accepted because the representatives put their signatures on only one piece of paper while according to the rules they were supposed to submit their resignation individually in separate papers.

The representatives who submitted their resignations are linked to different political parties, including the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the opposition Congress party.

They were elected about one and half years ago.

"We will hold dialogues with them and try to sort out any grievances they have," Jadhav said.

However, social activists here said the rebels had in recent weeks directed the panchayat representatives to resign, to which there was no official confirmation.