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= Sulochana Das =

'''Smt. Sulochana Das''' (born 20 May 1966). is an Indian politician serving as the Mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Odisha’s capital city. She is the first woman to hold the position and the first directly elected Mayor of Bhubaneswar.

She was born in Nachhipur village in Jajpur district of Odisha and practiced journalism from 1993 (in New Delhi) up until 2013 (in Odisha) before entering active politics.

Political career
Smt. Sulochana Das joined Congress in 2013 as Spokesperson & General Secretary of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee. She resigned in 2017 citing in-fighting and inaction in the party.

Das joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in 2017 and worked as the party’s spokesperson from 2017-2019. She then served as the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities from 2019 to 2022 during which she implemented various works across Odisha around inclusion and empowerment of the differently abled. She resigned from the post in 2022 when the BJD chose to field her as its candidate for Mayor in the Urban Local Body elections in Bhubaneswar. She contested in the elections and won the BMC polls on March 26, 2022 becoming the first directly elected Mayor of Bhubaneswar and the first woman to hold the post.

Bhubaneswar has seen many developmental works during her tenure and has hosted the 2nd edition of Dot.Fest and the FIH Mens Hockey World Cup 2023.

She has focussed on issues relating to women, farmers , tribals and Dalits with special emphasis on poverty alleviation programmes and solutions to problems faced by both urban and rural population