The battle for the by-election for the Nuapada assembly seat in Odisha is heating up as the candidates from the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress filed their nomination papers on Saturday.
BJP candidate Jay Dholakia and Congress nominee Ghasiram Majhi each submitted two sets of papers to election officials, said an official.
Jay Dholakia, whose father, the late BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, previously held the Nuapada assembly seat, filed his nomination papers after a large procession.
He was accompanied by senior state BJP leaders, including president Manmohan Samal and ministers Rabinarayan Naik and Ganesh R Singhkhuntia and a number of party MLAs. Dholakia reached the district collector’s office to submit his papers, leading a procession.
The procession, which saw the participation of hundreds of people, started from Khariar Road and touched various parts of the town before culminating near the collector’s office.
Ghasiram Majhi, a prominent tribal leader, also led a massive procession before filing his nomination at the collector’s office. He was joined by state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das and former minister Suresh Routray, among other senior party leaders.
Notably, Majhi, who contested as an Independent candidate in the seat in last year’s assembly polls after being denied a Congress ticket, had secured the second place by securing around 51,000 votes.
The then state Congress president Sarat Pattanayak was the party candidate in the seat and had finished fourth in the race.
The bypoll was necessitude by the death of the incumbent BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia.
So far, five people have submitted nomination papers for the bypoll, scheduled to be held on November 14, officials said.
The BJD candidate, Snehangiri Chhuria, is scheduled to file her nomination on the last day, Monday.
The scrutiny of papers will be conducted on October 22, and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 24. The votes will be counted on November 14.
