Five Nominations Rejected for Nuapada Bypoll; 14 Candidates Clear

Bhubaneswar: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, on Tuesday announced the rejection of five nominations for the upcoming Nuapada Assembly by-election.

The cancelled nominations include Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Rajaram Sahu, Rashtriya Parivartan Dal candidate Sitaram Behera, and three independent candidates—Kamal Kumar Chhatria, Purusottam Behera, and Bhujabal Adabang.

Meanwhile, the nominations of 14 candidates were found valid, including contenders from the three major political parties—BJP, BJD, and Congress. The list of valid candidates also includes BJP’s Jay Dholakia, BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria, Congress’ Ghasiram Majhi, and nominees from Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Mukti Party, Odisha Janata Dal, along with eight independents.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 24, ahead of the bypoll scheduled for November 11. The by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.

Rajendra Dholakia, a four-time MLA from Nuapada, had won the seat first as an independent in 2004 and later on BJD tickets in 2009, 2019, and 2024. He had also served as a minister in the BJD government under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. In the 2024 Assembly polls, he defeated independent nominee Ghasiram Majhi by a margin of around 11,000 votes, securing 61,822 votes, while Majhi received 50,941 votes. BJP candidate Abhinandan Panda, son of former MP Basanta Panda, finished third with 44,814 votes, and Congress candidate Sarat Patnaik secured 15,501 votes.