Bhubaneswar: Odisha unit of BJP Sunday announced its candidates for upcoming Assembly by-elections in the state.
The saffron party has selected Manas Kumar Dutta for the by-election to Balasore Assembly constituency and Raj Kishore Behera for Tirtol Assembly by-poll in Jagatsinghpur district.
Both the candidates filed their nominations with their respective election officers Sunday.
Ruling Biju Janata Dal and Congress — other two major parties in the state — are yet to announce their candidates for the by-polls.
Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) September 29 had declared that the election in the two Assembly seats will be held November 3 from 7am to 6pm.
A gazette notification was issued on this context by ECI October 9. The ECI has set October 16 as the last date for filing nomination forms. The scrutiny of nominations will take place October 17. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their candidature by October 19. Votes will be counted November 10.
It may be mentioned here that, the by-elections for the two Assembly seats were needed after the demise of former Balasore MLA Madan Mohan Dutta and Tirtol ex-MLA Bishnu Charan Das.
PNN