Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has officially announced the schedule for the bye-election to the 71-Nuapada Assembly Constituency.
The official notification was published in the Extraordinary Issue of The Odisha Gazette today.
The bye-election was necessitated due to the sudden demise of the sitting MLA, Shri Rajendra Dholakia, on September 8, 2025.
As per the notification, the election process must be completed before November 16, 2025 (Sunday). The key dates for the polls are as follows:
The last date for making nominations is October 20, 2025 (Monday).
The scrutiny of nominations will be conducted on October 22, 2025 (Wednesday).
The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is October 24, 2025 (Friday).
Polling, if necessary, will take place on November 11, 2025 (Tuesday).
The ECI has also fixed the hours of poll, differentiating between sensitive areas:
For the 47 polling stations identified as LWE (Left Wing Extremism) Affected, the poll timing will be from 07:00 AM to 04:00 PM.
For the remaining polling stations in the constituency, the hours of poll are set from 07:00 AM to 05:00 PM.