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Odisha Nuapada by-election: Nomination papers of five candidates for the by-election to be held on November 11 in Nuapada, Odisha, were rejected during scrutiny due to technical errors.
Odisha Nuapada by-election: The nomination papers of five candidates for the by-election to be held on November 11 in Nuapada, Odisha, were rejected during scrutiny due to technical errors. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said on Thursday that a total of 19 candidates had filed nominations for the by-election. Of which eight were from political parties and 11 were independent. However, during scrutiny on Wednesday, nomination papers of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Rajaram Sahu, Rashtriya Parivartan Dal’s Sitaram Behera and three independent candidates Kamal Kumar Chhatriya, Purushottam Behera and Bhujbal Adabang were rejected. Now 14 candidates are left in the fray. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is 24 October.
Triangular contest between BJP, BJD and Congress
According to the CEO office, Jai Dholakia (BJP), Snehangini Churiya (BJD), Ghasiram Majhi (Congress), Ramakant Hati (Samajwadi Party), Hemant Tandi (Bahujan Mukti Party), Sukdhar Dandasena (Odisha Janata Dal) and eight independent candidates Ashray Mahanand, Chakrant Jena, Bhuvanlal Sahu, Lochan Majhi, Kishore Kumar Bagh, Bhaktabandhu Dharua, Neeta Bagh and Laxmikanta Tandi’s nomination was found valid. The bypoll is likely to be a triangular contest between the ruling BJP, opposition BJD and Congress, all of whom have already started intensive campaigns for their candidates. The election is politically important as it will be the first electoral test for Chief Minister Mohan Majhi after the BJP’s victory in the 2024 elections. The by-election is equally important for the BJD, which lost power after 24 years even though it had secured a higher vote share than the BJP in the 2024 assembly elections. BJD got 40.22 percent votes, while BJP got 40.07 percent votes and Congress got about 13 percent votes.
The competition became interesting with the arrival of Jai Dholakia
The contest became more interesting after BJD’s probable candidate Jai Dholakia, son of late sitting MLA Rajendra Dholakia, joined BJP and became its candidate. After Dholakia’s defection, BJD fielded its women’s wing president and former minister of neighboring Bargarh district, Snehangini Chhuria. In Odisha, the Bhakta Charan Das-led Congress has fielded tribal leader Ghasiram Majhi, who had secured the second highest number of votes in Nuapada in the 2024 general elections. Dholakia had won the Nuapada seat for the fourth time in the 2024 assembly elections, securing 61,822 votes. Congress’s official candidate and then OPCC president Sharat Patnaik got 15,501 votes, while BJP’s Abhinandan Panda came third with 40,814 votes.
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