Nuapada by-poll on Nov 11

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission on Monday announced that the by-poll to the Nuapada Assembly constituency in Odisha will be held on November 11. Addressing a press conference here, Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R S Gopalan said that the results will be announced on November 14. He said a formal gazette notification for the by-poll will be issued on October 13.

The candidates can file their nominations on or before October 20, while the nomination papers will be scrutinised on October 22. The entire election process will be completed by November 16, he added. Gopalan said that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will come into force with immediate effect in Nuapada district.

Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through television channels on three occasions during the campaign period, he said.

Similarly, the political parties, which fielded candidates with criminal antecedents, are also required to publish information about criminal background of its candidates thrice, the CEO said. He said the constituency has an electorate of 2.48 lakh, which includes 1.26 lakh female voters. However, the final electoral roll will be published by October 10.

There are 2,007 electors aged above 85 years and their votes will be collected from their doorstep through postal ballot, he said. A total of 358 polling stations will be set up for the by-election.

“The polling booths will be set up in such a manner that no booth will have more than 1,200 voters,” he added. The CEO said that webcasting will be conducted in all booths across Nuapada during the by-election. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available in the constituency.

Electors will not be able to take their mobile phones inside the polling booths while casting their votes. Dedicated facilities will be made to store the mobile phones of the voters outside the polling booths. Only the polling officer can take a mobile phone inside the booths, he added.

The by-election to the Nuapada Assembly constituency was necessitated by the death of MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8 due to health-related issues. Dholakia was a four-time MLA from Nuapada seat, having been elected to the State Assembly in 2004, 2009, 2019 and 2024. He was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet from 2022 to 2024.

With his death, the number of BJD MLAs in the 147-member assembly has come down to 50 whilethe BJP has 78, Congress 14, CPI(M) one, and there are also three Independent legislators.