Cuttack, Jan. 12: As many as 20 sitting councillors of the municipal corporation cannot seek re-election from their respective wards because these have been reserved under different categories.

While 11 of these are BJD councillors, there are five from Congress, one from BJP, one NCP and two Independents. With the creation of five new wards, the election on February 6 will be held for 59 wards. The filing of nomination papers will start from tomorrow and continue till Saturday.

Bijay Kumar Pradhan of the BJD will not be able to contest from ward again because it has been reserved for women. “My ward No. 3, which was reserved for scheduled caste members, has now been designated as ward No. 7 and has been reserved for backward class women. So I am left with little choice but to ensure that my party candidate wins from the seat,” said Pradhan.

Thirty wards have been reserved for women. While 17 of these are for general category women, eight are for backward class women, four for scheduled caste women and one for scheduled tribe women. Besides, eight are reserved for backward class members and three for scheduled caste members.

Laxmidhar Pradhan, who had contested in the last civic polls from Ward No. 23 and won as an Independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the BJP, faces the same plight. “My ward is now No. 26 and reserved for general category women. So, I have decided to back the BJP candidate,” Laxmidhar said.

In the 2009 civic polls, BJP was the prime loser with just two of the 54 wards in its kitty. BJD captured 40, while Congress slipped to eight. The remaining four seats were shared by three Independents and one Nationalist Congress Party candidate.

Ward No. 26 councillors Narottama Das (Independent) has his own plan. “My ward has been renamed as ward No. 30 and has been reserved for general category women. So, my sister will contest from here this time,” he said.

Chandan Kumar Jena of the BJD, who is councillor of ward No. 19 is reportedly lobbying to see that his wife gets a ticket this time because his ward is now No. 22 and reserved for general category women.

Councillor of ward No. 32 Dharmananda Patra of the Congress is not upset even though his ward has been renamed as No. 36 and has been reserved for backward class women. He is expecting a party ticket from ward No. 33 (now 37), from where he was elected in 2003 and has been reserved for backward class members.

But Seshadev Nanda, who had won from ward No. 10 as an NCP candidate, has filed a petition in the Orissa High Court alleging that his ward, after being renamed as No. 13, has been reserved for general category women even as 15 other wards having more women population have not been reserved for women.