266 candidates in fray for 28 Assembly seats

Bhubaneswar : Filing of nomination papers concluded for 28 Assembly segments under four Lok Sabha constituencies of Odisha where the polling is going to take place on May 13. As per the data released by the Election Commission on Friday, as many as 266 candidates filed 483 nomination papers for 28 Assembly seats for the fourth phase of elections. Among the Assembly segments, 20 candidates have filed nominations for Berhampur Assembly seat while 14 candidates each for Digapahandi and Koraput Assembly constituencies.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak has filed nominations for Nuapada Assembly segment under Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency. Popular cine star and BJP leader Sidhant Mohapatra filed nominations for Digapahandi Assembly seat.

Similarly, 39, including 10 independent candidates, have filed nominations for Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur and Koraput parliamentary constituencies. As many as 13 candidates have filed nominations for Koraput Lok Sabha constituency while only four candidates have filed their nominations for Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat. Nominations have been filed by 11 candidates each for Kalahandi and Berhampur Lok Sabha seats.

Senior Congress leader Saptagiri Ulaka has filed nominations for Koraput Lok Sabha seat. The BJD, leader Pradeep Kumar Majhi, has filed nominations for Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP leader, Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, has filed nominations for Berhampur parliamentary constituency.

The scrutiny of nominations will be held on Friday, while the candidates can withdraw their nominations by April 29.

On the other hand, filing of nominations commenced on Friday for the fifth phase of polling scheduled to be held on May 20 in 35 Assembly segments under five Lok Sabha constituencies - Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska. The last date for filing of nominations is May 3.