A total of eight candidates, including those of BJD, BJP and Congress, were left in the fray for the Kandhamal lok Sabha by-election after the Kandhamal district Collector-cum-Returning Officer rejected the nomination papers of an Independent candidate after scrutiny on Saturday.
Nine aspirants had earlier filed their nomination papers. Following announcement of the final list of candidates, preparations for the poll by political parties in the constituency gathered momentum.
leaders and workers of all major parties are engaged in chalking out action plans and making strategies to win the lS seat. The three major contenders are Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh of the BJD, who is the widow of former Kandhamal MP Hemendra Chandra Singh, Abhimanyu Behera of the Congress and Rudra Madhab Ray of the BJP. The bypoll, scheduled for October 15, is necessitated by the sudden death of Hemendra Singh on September 5.