Nuapada, Nov 14: The Nuapada Assembly by-election is witnessing a strong surge for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Jay Dholakia. 

Dholakia has steadily widened his lead over the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress as vote counting progresses.

By the end of the 18th round, Jay Dholakia, son of late MLA Rajendra Dholakia, has secured 88,278 votes, maintaining a commanding lead of 59,912 votes over Congress’ Ghasiram Majhi. BJD candidate Snehangini Chhuria is trailing the BJP candidate by 60,840 votes.  

Snehangini Chhuria has so far bagged 27,438 votes, while Ghasiram Majhi has secured 28,366 votes.

Round 18: -BJP: 88278  -Congress: 28366  -BJD: 27438  -Lead: 59912 
Round 17: -BJP: 83,572  -Congress: 26,753  -BJD: 26,203  -Lead: 56,819   
Round 16:  -BJP: 78,507  -BJD: 24,635  -Congress: 24,251  -Lead: 53,872   
Round 15: - BJP : 73,745 - BJD : 23,089 - Congress : 22,618 - Lead : 50,656
Round 14: - BJP : 68,564 - BJD : 21,851 - Congress : 21,460 - Lead : 46,713
Round 13: - BJP : 63,522 - BJD : 20,288 - Congress : 20,103 - Lead : 43,234  
Round 12: - BJP : 59,366 - BJD : 19,053 - Congress : 17,437 - Lead : 40,313  
Round 11: - BJP : 54,980 - BJD : 18,184 - Congress : 15,337 - Lead : 36,796  

Round 6: -BJP: 30641 -BJD: 8646 -Congress: 7891 -Lead: 21995
Round 5: - BJP: 25,195 - Congress: 6,797 - BJD: 6,538 - Lead over Congress: 18,398 votes
Round 4: - BJP: 18,903 - Congress: 6,088 - BJD: 5,330 - Lead: 13,583 votes    

Round 2: -BJP: 10,436 -BJD: 3,023 -Congress: 2,234  
Round 1: -BJP: 4,904 votes -BJD: 1,357 -Congress: 1,308

The Nuapada bypoll has drawn intense attention as a key contest in western Odisha. The seat fell vacant following the demise of the sitting MLA. All three major parties—BJP, BJD, and Congress—have fielded strong candidates in a bid to capture the constituency.

Also read: BJP’s Jay Dholakia Take Significant Lead As Counting Progresses

The counting is being conducted in 26 rounds across 14 tables, under tight security and supervision by election officials. Final results are expected later today.