Congress names candidate for Bijepur by-polls

The Congress on Wednesday named Dillip Kumar Panda as its candidate for the October 21 by-polls at Bijepur assembly segment in Odisha.

Party sources said though the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) had given a list of five names for the party candidate, AICC president Sonia Gandhi chose Panda, the vice-president of Bargarh District Congress.

Panda's name was announced through a release issued by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mukul Wasnik.

While Congress became the first party to announce the name of its candidate for the by-poll, the ruling BJD on Wednesday held a meeting to discuss on its nominee for the Bijepur seat, which was won by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the 2019 assembly elections.

The by-poll is being held at Bijepur after Patnaik resigned from the seat, as he retained the Hinjili assembly segment in Ganjam district. Patnaik had won two assembly seats in the last elections.

"Our candidate will file nomination on September 30," said BJD vice-president and MP Prasanna Acharya.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP also held a meeting and discussed with local party workers and leaders on the probable candidate for the Bijepur by-polls.

"We have sent three names to the party. The name of the candidate will be announced soon," said BJP general secretary and MP Suresh Pujari.

Polling for the Bijepur assembly segment is scheduled to be held on October 21, and the last date for filing of nomination papers is September 30.

There are 2,32,005 eligible voters in 285 polling booths in the segment.