With the nomination withdrawal date for Nuapada assembly bypoll ending on Friday, the political scene in this western Odisha constituency is set to heat up ahead of the November 11 election.

No nomination was withdrawn and all the 14 candidates who were cleared by the poll panel will remain in the fray. This is the first byelection that Odisha is facing after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which ended Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik’s 24 years regime and led to the formation of the first BJP government in the state.

Odisha BJP's litmus test

The byelection was necessitated after the death of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia in Chennai in September 2025 following an illness. He had represented the constituency four times and had been a cabinet minister under Naveen Patnaik. Since BJD is now th

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