Bhubaneswar, Apr 24 (PTI) The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday urged the Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to disallow a BJP leader and member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe to hold official programmes in the by-poll bound Jharsuguda assembly segment.

In a petition to the CEO, the BJD leaders said that they understand that National Commission for Scheduled Tribes member Anant Nayak in planning to hold programmes in Jharsuguda area where the Model Code of Conduct is in force for the May 10 by-elections.

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A delegation of the ruling BJD visited the office of the CEO and submitted a petition, saying that Nayak's meeting or programme would be a violation of the MCC imposed for the by-poll.

BJD officials pointed out Nayak has been a BJP leader in the past and was elected as MP from Keonjhar.

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Stating that Nayak is now holding a constitutional position as NCST member, the delegation said there is no justification for him to hold such a meeting in Jharsuguda, especially with the election model code of conduct in force.

“If he (Nayak) does so, it would be construed as being a violation of the election model code of conduct,” it said. The ruling party urged the CEO not to provide any permission to Nayak to hold any meeting in Jharsuguda ahead of the by-election.

Meanwhile, an official release from the CEO's office said that altogether nine candidates will remain in the fray in the Jharsuguda by-election after one candidate withdrew his nomination paper on Monday.

Bhubaneswar Gartia withdrew his nomination on Monday, the CEO's office said. The election is being held after the demise of ex-health minister Naba Kishore Das, who was the MLA from the constituency, on January 29, 2023.

The candidates in the fray were: Deepali Das (BJD), Tankadhar Tripathy (BJP), Tarun Pandey (IMC), Janma Rohodas (Odisha Pragati Dal), Manish Sharma (Odisha Janata Party), Mahindra Patnaik (Kalinga Sena) and independent candidates Bijay Kumar Jalan, Mahendra Luha and Gyanendra Behera.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)