As was evident earlier, BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday formally announced the name of Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, widow of Hemendra Chandra Singh, as the party candidate for the Kandhamal lok Sabha by-election scheduled on October 15.
The announcement of the Pratyusha Rajeswari’s name as the BJD nominee was a mere formality since all party MlAs and local leaders from the constituency had favoured her candidature as they believe she would ride on a sympathy wave generated by her husband’s untimely death to emerge winner.
Pratyusha Singh told the media that if elected she would work towards fulfilling the unfinished tasks of her husband in the constituency.
The Congress was yet to finalise its candidate. PCC president Jayadev Jena met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday in this connection.
The last date of filing of nominations is September 26.The Kandhamal seat has fallen vacant after the death of Hemendra Singh on September 5.