Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Saturday announced the name of its candidate for the byelection to Padmpaur Assembly constituency in Odisha’s Bargarh district.
In a press release, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) stated that senior state Congress leader of Odisha Satya Bhusan Sahu has been selected as its official candidate to contest in the bypoll scheduled to be held on December 5.
Sahu, a three-time MLA from Padampur was also former government chief whip. He had won from the seat in 1980, 1985 and 2004 Assembly elections. He had lost the election to BJD’s Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha in 2019.
Earlier in the day, opposition BJP had announced the name of senior leader and former MLA Pradip Purohit as its candidate for the bypoll. The party’s Central election committee has approved the name of Purohit.
Among major parties, the ruling BJD is yet to announce its candidate. The byelection to Padampur constituency was necessitated following the death of Bariha.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on November 5 released the schedule of the byelection. As per its notification, the election will be held on December 5 and the results declared on December 8.
The last date of filing the nomination papers is November 17 while scrutiny of papers will be held on November 18. The last date of withdrawing nominations is November 21.
