Rourkela: After cancellation or withdrawal of nominations, eight candidates are left in the fray for the prestigious Sundargarh Lok Sabha (LS) constituency, while a total of 63 candidates are left for the final contest for seven assembly constituencies (ACs). Sundargarh district.
The main players left in the fray for the Lok Sabha seat are BJP’s Jual Oram, BJD’s Dilip Tirkey and Congress’s Janardan Dehuri, along with four candidates from lesser-known parties and one independent candidate.
There are 11 candidates in the fray in Rourkela AC while eight candidates each will contest in Sundergarh, Talsara and RN Pali AC. Rajgangpur AC, which traditionally had the highest number of candidates in all elections, has sprung a surprise by having the lowest number of candidates in the district with only six contestants in the final battle for the 2024 elections. Biramitrapur AC has the highest number of 13 candidates, including eight independent candidates, while Bonai AC has 10 candidates, including five independent candidates.
After the cancellation of nominations, except JMM candidate from Biramitrapur AC and former Biramitrapur MLA Nihar Surin, all other major contestants remain in the fray either on Lok Sabha or Assembly seats.
