Bhubaneswar: Thirty-seven candidates are in the fray for the elections to four Lok Sabha seats in Odisha for which voting will be held May 13, EC officials informed.
The nomination process for Nabarangpur, Berhampur, Koraput and Kalahandi Lok Sabha segments started April 18 and the last date was April 25.
The papers were scrutinised April 26, while Monday was the last day for withdrawal of nominations.
The EC officials Monday said that the nominations of 38 candidates remained valid during the scrutiny. Of them, one candidate in Koraput withdrew his nomination. Now, 30 men and seven women candidates are in the fray for the May 13 phase of polls in Odisha.
While 11 candidates are contesting for the Kalahandi seat, four for the Nabarangpur constituency.
Similarly, 10 men and one woman candidates are contesting for the Berhampur seat and seven men and four women candidates are in the race for the Koraput constituency.
Twenty-eight Assembly segments, located under these Lok Sabha constituencies, will also go for voting May 13, while polling for the remaining Lok Sabha and Assembly seats will be held May 20, 25 and June 1.
The nomination process for the May 20 poll in the state is underway.
Many senior leaders from different parties, including BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra from the Puri Lok Sabha seat, former Union Minister Dilip Ray from the Rourkela Assembly segment, state minister Ranendra Pratap Swain from the Athagarh Assembly seat, BJD leader Sanjay Das Burma from Satyabadi Assembly seat have filed their nomination papers, holding big processions.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das are scheduled to file their nominations for the Hinjili Assembly constituency and for the Sambalpur parliamentary seat respectively April 30.
Patnaik will file his nomination for the Hinjili Assembly segment for the sixth time, while Das is contesting the elections for the first time against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Apart from Hinjili, the CM is also going to contest for the Kantabanji Assembly seat in western Odisha.
PTI
