Bhubaneswar: Nomination of Congress' Niali MLA candidate Jyoti Ranjan Mallik was rejected due to his name not being included in the voters list.

He had submitted his nomination papers at the Cuttack Collectorate, two days ago. However, during the scrutiny process, his nomination was rejected.

"I was called by election officials for scrutiny, and during the process, I was informed that my nomination was rejected because my name was not in the voters list," Mallik said.

"I was elected as a sarpanch in 2022. If my name is not in the voters list, how did I become a sarpanch?" he questioned.

He accused the local BJD leader and MLA of conspiring against him to prevent his participation in the election.