Bhubaneswar: Altogether 19 candidates have filed nominations for the upcoming Nuapada by-election in Odisha.

This was revealed by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha on Monday, the last day for filing nominations for the Assembly bypoll in the state.

Nominees of political parties   

Jay Dholakia of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Snehangini Chhuria of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Ghasiram Majhi of Congress party, Ramakant Hati of Samajwadi Party, Hemant Tandi of Bahujan Mukti Party, Raja Ram Sahu of Bahujan Samaj Party, Sukadhar Dandasena and Sitaram Behera of Rashtriya Paribartan Dal have filed nomination papers for Nuapada by-election, scheduled to be held on November 11.   

Independent candidates for the bypoll

Apart from the candidates of various political parties, a total of 11 independent candidates have filed nominations for the November 11 by-election. The independent candidates are: Ashraya Mahanand, Chakrant Jena, Purusottam Behera, Kamal Kumar Chhatria, Bhubanlal Sahu, Lochan Majhi, Bhujabal Adabanga, Kishore Kumar Bagh, Bhaktabandhu Dharua, Nita Bagh and Laxmikanta Tandi.

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The scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on October 22 while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 24.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Sitting BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.

The ruling BJP has picked Dholakia’s son Jay as its candidate for the by-election while former minister Snehangini Chhuria and tribal leader Ghasiram Majhi are the candidates of BJD and Congress party respectively.

Rajendra Dholakia had defeated independent nominee in 2024 polls   

It is worth mentioning here that Rajendra Dholakia had been elected to the Odisha Assembly from Nuapada seat for four times since 2004.

He first won the Assembly election from Nuapada as an independent nominee and then retained the seat in 2009, 2019 and 2024 on BJD tickets. He had also served as a minister in the BJD government under then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Also Read: BJD deploys over 50 leaders for campaigning in Nuapada bypolls

Dholakia had defeated independent nominee Ghasiram Majhi by a margin of around 11,000 in 2024 Assembly polls. The former minister had secured 61,822 votes while Majhi was polled 50,941 votes.

BJP candidate Abhinandan Panda, the son of former MP Basanta Panda, got third position with 44,814 votes. Congress candidate Sarat Patnaik secured the fourth position with 15,501 votes.