Bhubaneswar: As the deadline for withdrawal of nomination ended on Friday, altogether 14 candidates are set to contest in the upcoming Nuapada Assembly by-election in Odisha. This was revealed by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha.
The candidates were allowed to withdraw their nominations between 11 am and 3 pm on Friday. As no candidate withdrew the nomination paper, 14 candidates are left in the race for the bypoll.
Prominent among the candidates are Jay Dholakia from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Snehangini Chhuria of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and Congress nominee Ghasiram Majhi.
Additionally, three other political parties have fielded candidates — Ramakanta Hati of the Samajwadi Party, Hemant Tandi of the Bahujan Mukti Party, and Shukadhar Dandasena of the Odisha Janata Dal.
The remaining eight candidates are contesting as independents. They include Ashraya Mahanand, Chakrant Jena, Bhuban Lal Sahu, Kishor Kumar Bag, Neeta Bag, Lakshmi Kant Tandi, Bhakta Bandhu Dhurua, and Lochana Majhi.
As many as 19 candiadtes had filed their nominations for the November 11 by-election. The nomination papers of five candidates were rejected during the scrutiny on October 22.
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Sitting BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8. The voting for the by-election will be held on November 11 while counting is scheduled to be done on November 16.