Withdrawal of nominations by candidates in different parts of Western Odisha has thrown up surprises on Monday.

While some candidates emerged victorious unopposed, at Khariar Road NAC in Nuapada district all the Congress candidates will fight the poll as Independents after they failed to submit party nomination. In Deogarh Municipality, 39 candidates made it to the final list.

In Kuchinda NAC, 38 candidates are in fray for 11 Wards with eight candidates withdrawing from the race. While all the three major political parties - Congress, BJP and BJD - have fielded candidates in all the Wards, it remains to be seen if the Congress can regain control over the NAC for the second time in a row as the area comes under Kuchinda Assembly segment which has Congress legislator Rajendra Chattria. In Bargarh, BJD candidates Kalpana Majhi from Ward 8 and Subarna Bhoi from Ward 15 won uncontested.

Sources said Majhi’s win came after Congress candidate Ratnamani Saha withdrew while Bhoi won after rejection of nomination of Congress candidate Purnabasi Khamari. In rest of 17 Wards, 68 candidates are in fray. For Barpali NAC, 33 candidates are in fray for 11 Wards after withdrawal of one candidate. Similarly, 36 candidates will fight it out for 11 Wards under Padampur NAC after withdrawal of three candidates.

The list of candidates for Jharsuguda Municipality was finalised with 81 candidates for 24 Wards after three candidates withdrew, while Brajrajnagar Municipality will have 121 candidates for 23 Wards. Seven candidates withdrew their papers in Brajrajnagar. In Sonepur district, Sonepur Municipality, Tarbha NAC and Binka NAC will participate in ULB polls on November 22. The district Congress had decided not to field candidates on request of the Bar Association.

In Sonepur Municipality, Jogi Taria of BJD withdrew from race in Ward 7 along with former chairperson of the Municipality Damayanti Barik from Ward 4. Similarly, in Binka NAC, BJD candidate Gurbari Seth of Ward 2 won unopposed after withdrawal of Independent candidate  Santoshini Seth while in Ward 10, BJP candidate Omprakash Agrawal withdrew paving way for the BJD candidate to win. The list ended with 35 candidates in fray for 15 Wards under the NAC.

In Tarbha NAC, two BJD candidates - Matee Majhi of Ward 11 and Prabhati Sahu of Ward 12 - were unofficially declared elected with no contestant against them after withdrawal process came to an end. With this, 31 candidates are left in fray for 10 Wards under the NAC. In Nuapada, 40 candidates will contest the poll in 13 Wards with lone Independent candidate withdrawing his nomination.