ROURKELA: After cancellation or withdrawal of nominations, as many as 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) in Sundargarh district.
In the LS seat, the main players including Jual Oram of BJP, Dilip Tirkey of BJD and Janardan Dehuri of Congress along with four candidates of lesser-known parties and one Independent candidate are left in the fray.
In Rourkela AC, 11 candidates are in the fray while in Sundargarh, Talsara and RN Pali ACs, eight each candidates will fight among themselves. The Rajgangpur AC, which traditionally used to see highest number of candidates in all elections, has thrown up a surprise with distinction of having the lowest number of candidates in the district with only six contestants in the final fight for the 2024 poll. The Birmitrapur AC has the highest number of candidates at 13 including eight Independent candidates, while the Bonai AC has 10 candidates including five Independent contestants.
Except for JMM candidate and former MLA of Birmitrapur Nihar Surin from the Birmitrapur AC following cancellation of his nomination, rest all prominent contestants either in the LS or Assembly seats remain in the fray.