Bhadrak (Odisha), Oct 28 (PTI) Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bishweswar Tudu on Friday sought votes for BJP candidate Surtyabanshi Suraj in the Dhamnagar Assembly by-poll while BJD and Congress leaders also intensified their canvassing.

The by-election to the Dhamnagar seat in Odisha's Bhadrak district will be held on November 3.

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Pradhan, Tudu and BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra extensively campaigned in the constituency seeking votes for the party candidate.

The BJP leaders participated in both padayatra and road shows and expressed confidence that the people of Dhamnagar would certainly bless late MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi's son Suraj, who is a party candidate this time.

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The by-poll in Dhamnagar was necessitated due to the untimely death of Bishnu Charan Sethi on September 19.

Pradhan, Tudu and Patra campaigned in 14-gram panchayats and NAC areas in the Dhamnagar Assembly segment during the day.

For BJD candidate Abani Das, several Odisha ministers and MLAs campaigned while OPCC co-in-charge Rudra Raju hit the campaign trail for Congress candidate Baba Harekrushna Sethi.

BJP state president Samir Mohanty who has been camping at Dhamnagar for the last 10 days, met the District Collector cum District Election Officer and apprised him of the name of the woman who was allegedly distributing money to voters to vote for BJD.

Mohanty also attached a video clip in his petition where a local BJD leader announced that CM Naveen Patnaik will give one crore rupees to each panchayat for voting in favour of the BJD candidate.

The BJP state president also alleged that the panchayat level government employees were campaigning for the ruling in BJD.

Meanwhile, Odisha's Chief Electoral; Officer (CEO) S K Lohani on Friday visited Dhamnghar and held a meeting with the district collector and other senior officials on the preparedness for the November 3 by-poll.

(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)