Cuttack, Jan. 12: The race for the new mayor of the city has begun with the State Election Commission announcing that poll for the coveted post would be held on January 22.

The notification has come up as a setback for a section of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as they were keen on holding the mayoral election after conducting the by-poll in ward No. 21 of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC).

The posts of mayor and councillor of ward No. 21 had both fallen vacant following the resignation of Anita Behera in the wake of the ongoing ration card row.

"The councillor from ward No. 21 will not be able to take part in the poll. We will have to examine whether the mayoral election can be held in the absence of any councillor," said Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debasish Samantaray. Ward No. 21 falls in the Assembly constituency of Samantaray.

Three women councillors of the BJD - Sulochana Sethi of ward No. 39, Minakshee Behera of ward No. 45 and Mamata Behera of ward No. 51 - are reportedly eyeing the top post as the seat is reserved for a scheduled caste woman.

BJD sources, however, said that the next mayor would be picked from among the two councillors in Cuttack-Choudwar constituency area - Sulochana and Minakshee. Mamata Behera is likely to be left out as her name also featured in the ration card controversy.

"I will act according to the instruction of the senior leaders of the party. I will work for the development of Cuttack city if I am elected the mayor," said Sulochana.

The BJD has 41 councillors in the 59-ward CMC council. Congress has nine councillors, BJP four, while four others are Independent councillors.

Congress has welcomed the announcement of dates for the mayoral poll by the election commission as the party had earlier urged for holding the election at the earliest.

"As the BJD already has a majority in the civic body, the Congress has nothing to say on the mayoral election. However, local MLA Samantaray wanted the by-poll for ward No. 21 to be over before the mayoral election," said senior Congress leader Suresh Mohapatra.

Municipal commissioner Gyana Das told The Telegraph that the CMC had yesterday received a letter from the State Election Commission for holding the mayoral election on January 22.

"The director of civic administration will take necessary steps for holding the poll. There will be no model code of conduct and deputy mayor will be in charge till new mayor is elected," Das said.