Officials Want Polls In Odisha's Patkura Scrapped After Candidate's Death

The returning officer of Patkura assembly constituency in Odisha on Sunday sought the postponing of polls in the seat in the wake of the death of the BJD candidate.

Sitting Biju Janata Dal assembly lawmaker and candidate in the Patkura Assembly seat, Bed Prakash Agarwal, died at a hospital in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. He had been undergoing medical treatment for the past few days.

The returning officer-cum-sub collector has apprised the Odisha Chief Electoral Officer, Surendra Kumar, of the candidate's death and sought countermanding of polls under section-52 of Representation of People Act, 1951, Kendrapara Collector, Dasarathi Satapathy said.

The CEO has apprised the Election Commission or EC of the matter.

Patkura was scheduled to go to the polls along with six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly seats on April 29.