Nomination papers of six candidates, including a Congress nominee, were rejected during scrutiny on Monday for elections to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) scheduled on January 8. A total of 445 candidates remain in the fray after scrutiny.
The candidates whose nomination papers were rejected include Madhusudan Behera of ward number-5 (Ind), Sima Dalei of ward no-9 (Congress), Lipsa Nayak of ward no-14 (Utkal Bharat), Pradyumna Pradhan of ward no-21 (Ind), Madhuri Kinnar of ward no-30 (Ind) and Ajay Kumar Subuddhi of ward no-66 (Ind).
The last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 26.
The BJD is trying hard to persuade many rebel candidates, who have filed their nomination papers after being denied party tickets, to withdraw their nomination papers.
Sources in the State Election Commission (SEC) said that 1,120 nomination papers were sold.
Meanwhile, various political parties and candidates have intensified their campaigning for the BMC polls with aspirants starting to visit their wards. Door-to-door campaigns have been started to woo the voters.