Who is Ghasiram Majhi? Congress's Candidate for Nuapada Bypoll!

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Ghasiram Majhi is the Congress candidate for the Nuapada by-election.
- The election is scheduled for November 11.
- The seat is vacant due to the death of Rajendra Dholakia.
- Majhi has contested the Nuapada constituency three times previously.
- There are 248,256 voters registered in the constituency.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 7 (NationPress) The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has officially declared tribal leader Ghasiram Majhi as its candidate for the upcoming Nuapada by-election, set to occur on November 11.
In a statement released by the AICC on Tuesday, it was noted, "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has sanctioned the nomination of Ghasiram Majhi as the Congress representative for the imminent bye-election to the Odisha Assembly from the Nuapada constituency."
Previously, Majhi ran as an independent candidate during the 2024 Assembly polls after being denied a ticket by the party.
Despite losing to the late Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJD) leader Rajendra Dholakia by a margin of 10,881 votes in the 2024 Assembly elections, he secured more votes than the Congress candidate and the then Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President, Sarat Pattanayak.
Majhi has contested elections from this constituency three times, including the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but has been unsuccessful each time.
The Congress aims to leverage Majhi's candidacy to sway tribal votes.
The Nuapada Assembly seat became vacant following the demise of former Minister and senior BJD figure Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.
The Election Commission of India announced the by-election date on Monday.
Odisha's Chief Electoral Commissioner, R.S. Gopalan, stated that the gazette notification for the by-election will be released on October 13. The deadline for filing nominations is October 20, with scrutiny set for October 22.
Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 24.
Voting will occur on November 11, and the counting of votes is scheduled for November 14.
Gopalan also mentioned that the model code of conduct has come into immediate effect across the Nuapada district.
As per the ongoing Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in Nuapada, there are a total of 2,48,256 voters, including 1,22,103 male voters, 1,26,132 female voters, and 21 transgender voters as of September 15.