Tribal body to contest assembly, LS polls in Kandhamal

The Kui Samaj Samanwya Samiti, a body of tribals, on Tuesday announced its plan to field candidates both for the Lok Sabha and assembly seats in riot ravaged Kandhamal district in Orissa.

"We will field candidates in three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in Kandhamal," KSSS leader Lambodar Kanhar said.

KSSS could also field its candidates in other tribal dominated districts like Balangir, Subarnapur, Kalahandi and Daspalla assembly seat in Nayagarh district, Kanhar said adding that the final decision on other districts would be taken at the state level meeting in Bhubaneswar on March 15.

Claiming that KSSS enjoyed full support of tribals of Kandhamal, who constituted 52 per cent of the district's population, Kanhar said the tribal body had already announced the name of Nilambar Malik for the Baliguda assembly seat.

The district has three assembly seats -- Phulbani, G Udaygiri and Baliguda -- all reserved for scheduled tribe candidates after delimitation.

Similarly, the only Lok Sabha seat, Phulbani, was also reserved for scheduled tribe candidates.