JHARSUGUDA: Deepali Das, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate for the upcoming by-election in Jharsuguda, daughter of former heavyweight minister and three-time Jharsuguda MLA, Naba Kishore Das, filed her nomination papers on Tuesday at the sub-collector-cum-returning officer Kishore Chandra Swain’s office.
A huge roadshow was organized in Jharsuguda town, with ministers and senior leaders accompanying Deepali as she rode in an open vehicle and toured the town. Earlier on the day, Deepali offered prayers at the temple of Patneshwari. Thousands of BJD workers and supporters also joined the rally from the Manmohan School ground. Traffic on the route was also disrupted due to the crowd.
After filing nomination papers, Deepali expressed confidence about winning and stated that she has the blessings of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and her late father Naba Das. “I will complete all the works my father wanted to do but could not, with his blessings and under the leadership of Naveen Babu,” she said.
BJD’s party observer Prasanna Acharya, also expressed his confidence in Deepali’s candidature. “Deepali Das is getting huge public support. Moreover we believe in progress and development. On May 10, you will get information that we have people’s support, we will win with a huge margin,” he said. On election campaigning, Acharya said Deepali has already started and as elections come near, her approach will be vigorous to reach more people . “Our entire team is campaigning in different places and is taking the state government’s work of public interest to every house. We will win big,” he claimed.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on April 21, while April 24 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Voting for the by-election is scheduled for May 10 and the entire election process is expected to be completed before May 15.