Nuapada: Senior tribal leader Ghasiram Majhi is set to file his nomination on October 18 as the Congress candidate for the upcoming by-election to Nuapada Assembly constituency in Odisha.
A senior party leader said that Majhi will file his nomination before the returning officer in Nuapada in the presence of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das and several senior leaders.
Majhi, who contested the 2024 elections as an independent candidate after being denied Congress ticket, had secured the second position, bagging around 51,000 votes, powered by the support of the local tribal association.
The then OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak was fielded as the party candidate in Nuapada in the last elections.
Earlier in the day, the BJP announced Jay Dholakia as its candidate for the by-election. Jay, son of late BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, had joined the saffron party on October 11. Ever since, speculations were rife that the BJP would field him for the bypoll.
On its part, the BJD is likely to announce its candidate for the bypoll very soon.
The Nuapada Bypoll will take place on November 11, with counting of votes scheduled for November 14.
The deadline for filing nominations is October 20. Scrutiny of papers will be conducted on October 22, and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 24.
The bypoll was necessitated after the demise of sitting BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, a former minister and four-time legislator from Nuapada, who died on September 8, 2025, at the age of 69.
Rajendra Dholakia had polled 61822 votes in 2024 elections, defeating Ghasiram Majhi by a margin of 10881 votes.
