ROURKELA/PURI/BARGARH : Former union minister Dilip Ray and BJP’s Puri Lok Sabha nominee Sambit Patra were among the several prominent candidates who filed their nomination papers on Monday.
Dilip, the BJP candidate from Rourkela Assembly seat, filed two sets of nomination papers before Panposh sub-collector and returning officer (RO) Bijay Nayak. His wife Pooja Ray was present.
The saffron party’s candidates from RN Pali and Birmitrapur Assembly seats Durga Tanti and Shankar Oram also filed their nominations. Dilip and the two candidates were accompanied by senior BJP leaders and thousands of BJP workers who marched in a huge rally from Bisra Square and reached Udit Nagar covering the Rourkela main road.
During the rally, BJP’s Sundargarh LS candidate Jual Oram and Dilip walked side by side to show the bonhomie between the two. Former India hockey captain Prabod Tirkey, who joined the BJP a few days back, also participated.
Similarly in Puri, Sambit Patra came in a huge procession of BJP workers from Uttara chowk in Pipili and filed his papers before the returning officer. BJP nominee from Pipili Assembly seat Ashrit Pattanaik accompanied Sambit and also filed his nominations. Ashrit is the president of the saffron party’s Puri district unit.
BJD’s heavy weight candidate Sanjay Das Burma also filed his nominations for Satyabadi Assembly seat. The ruling party’s candidate from Puri Assembly seat Sunil Kumar Mohanty too filed his papers. He was accompanied by Rajya Sabha Member Subhasis Khuntia and BJD’s Puri LS nominee Arup Kumar Pattnaik.
On the day, BJP and BJD workers came face to face during the rallies of Sambit and Sanjay. A heated exchange of words broke out between supporters of the two leaders. But before the situation could turn ugly, Puri SP Pinak Mishra intervened and pacified both the groups.
In Bargarh, BJD’s sitting Padampur MLA Barsha Singh Bariha filed her nominations for the Assembly seat. Accompanied by BJD’s Bargarh LS candidate Parineeta Mishra and thousands of party workers and supporters, she proceeded to the sub-collector’s office in a huge rally and submitted her papers to the returning officer.
Barsha had defeated senior BJP leader Pradeep Purohit by a margin of 42,679 votes in Padampur by-election held in 2022. The by-election was necessitated following the death of Barsha’s father and Padampur MLA Bijay Singh Bariha.
Apart from Barsha, three BSP candidates filed their nominations for Bargarh, Bijepur and Padampur Assembly seats. Four Independent candidates also filed nominations for Bargarh, Bijepur, Padampur and Bhatli Assembly seats.