Two CMs, three Union ministers are among BJP's 40 star campaigners for Nuapada bypoll

Bhubaneswar, Oct 16 (PTI) Two chief ministers, three deputy CMs, three Union ministers, three Odia actors are among 40 people who will campaign for BJP candidate Jay Dholakia for Nuapada bypoll scheduled for November 11.

The BJP on Thursday submitted a list of its star campaigners with the Election Commission (EC), which includes names of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai, three Union ministers — Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Jual Oram —, among others.

Seven other senior BJP leaders from Chhattisgarh will also campaign in Nuapada. They include Arun Sao, Brijmohan Agrawal, Guru Khushwant Saheb, Roopkumari Choudhary, Anuj Sharma, Rohit Sahu, and Yogeshwar Raju Sinha.

Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, and film actors-turned-politicians Siddhant Mohapatra, Akash Das Nayak, and Anubhav Mohanty will also take part in the campaign.

Odisha BJP prabharis Sunil Bansal, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and Lata Usendi, along with Deputy CMs Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, will also campaign for Dholakia.

BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda, former state president Samir Mohanty, senior leader Basanta Panda, and several ministers, MPs, MLAs, and party stalwarts are also part of the party’s campaign strategy in this politically significant western Odisha constituency.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of its sitting MLA Rajendra Dholakia of BJD on September 8. The election becsme more interesting when Dholakia’s son Jay switched over to BJP and became a candidate.

Rajendra Dholakia had won the elections in 2024 as a BJD candidate by a margin of over 10,000 votes. PTI AAM AAM MNB