Polling began smoothly in the Nuapada Assembly by-election where the BJP, BJD and Congress are locked in a close three-way contest, with heavy security deployed across Maoist-affected areas.
Polling began early Tuesday for the high-profile Nuapada Assembly by-election in western Odisha, where over 2.53 lakh voters are casting their votes across 358 polling booths. The seat fell vacant following the death of four-time MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8, 2025.
Voting started at 7 a.m. and will continue till 5 p.m. in most booths, while in 47 remote and Maoist-affected polling stations, voting will end an hour earlier at 4 p.m. to ensure the safe return of polling personnel. The Election Commission has arranged ramps, drinking water, and first aid at every booth to boost voter turnout.
The bypoll has turned into a three-way contest between Jay Dholakia of the BJP, Snehangini Chhuria of the BJD, and Ghasiram Majhi of the Congress. The outcome is expected to influence party strategies ahead of the 2026 civic and panchayat polls in western Odisha.
BJP candidate Jay Dholakia, son of the late MLA, is relying on his father's goodwill and the party's expanding base in rural western Odisha, where the BJP's vote share rose from 14.7% in 2014 to nearly 38% in 2024. BJD's Snehangini Chhuria, a former minister from Bargarh district, seeks to retain the seat for her party but faces criticism for being an "outsider." The Congress, once dominant in the Nuapada-Kalahandi belt, hopes to revive its fortunes with Ghasiram Majhi, a tribal leader and noted lawyer.
To ensure peaceful polling, authorities have implemented a multi-layered security plan. Fourteen companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed alongside state police, with additional forces stationed at 47 sensitive and 8 highly sensitive booths. Helicopter sorties by the Indian Air Force have been arranged to ferry election teams and materials to hard-to-reach areas near the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary.
District Election Officer Pradeep Kumar Jena said all polling stations are under live webcasting, monitored in real time from the Chief Electoral Officer's control room in Bhubaneswar. "Every booth is under electronic surveillance, and quick response teams are on standby to tackle any incident," Jena said.
The Nuapada bypoll has attracted national attention, seen as a litmus test for the BJP's rural expansion against the BJD's welfare-driven network in western Odisha. The region, marked by migration and developmental challenges, recorded a 79.3% voter turnout in the 2024 Assembly elections -- among the state's highest.
Counting of votes will be held on November 14 under three-tier security at the district headquarters. Only authorised personnel will be allowed entry, and the process will be fully monitored through CCTV surveillance.