Nomination begins for Kandhamal by-poll

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Sep 19: The process bye-election in Kandhamal Parliamentary seat in Odisha started with the issuance of formal notification by the District Collector of Kandhamal and Returning Officer for filing of nomination papers from today.As per the notification, the filing of nomination papers will continue till September 26.Voting in the constituency will be conducted from 7 am to 4 pm on October 15.The by-poll was necessitated following the death of ruling Biju Janata Dal’s Hemendra Chandra Singh.The filing of nomination papers will start from today and will continue till September 26.The election would be held October 15 and the counting of votes will take place October 19, according to N.Thirumala Naik, Returning Officer.The Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency comprising seven Assembly segments is spread over four districts – Kandhamal, Boudh, Nayagarh and Ganjam.The seven Assembly segments that come under Kandhamal are Phulbani, G.Udayagiri, and Baliguda in Kandhamal district; Boudh and Kantamal in Boudh district, Daspalla in Nayagarh district and Bhanjanagar in Ganjam district.No major party has announced the name of their candidate though the BJD was likely to field Singh’s widow Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh.Congress and BJP were continuing with the process of selecting their nominees.