Women candidates in Odisha's Ganjam, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, broke the quota ceiling as they were elected in a higher number of seats than what was reserved for them in the panchayat polls. As many as 40 women candidates have been elected as members of the zilla parishad out of total 67 zones in the district.

The government had reserved 35 zilla parishad zones - 50 per cent of the total zones - for all categories of women. Seven had been reserved for Scheduled Castes, and two for the Scheduled Tribes. All the 40 elected women candidates belong to the Biju Janata Dal, Mamata Bisoi, zonal president of the party's women's wing, said.

In the 2017 panchayat elections, women were elected in 35 out of the total 69 zones in the district. No women candidate was elected as a zilla parishad member.

BJD candidates won in 67 zilla parishad zones, while the BJP managed to clinch two zones in the district in the rural polls, which were held in five phases from February 16-24. The BJP and Congress had fielded 38 and 37 women candidates respectively for the post of zilla parishad members in the panchayat polls.

Most of the elected women candidates are new faces, sources said. The election for the zilla parishad president's post, which was reserved for women in the district this time, is scheduled on March 13.