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.