BJP Fields Jay Dholakia for Nuapada By-Election: A Tactical Strike Against BJD Stronghold
In a bold move to consolidate its foothold in Odisha’s tribal heartlands, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has officially nominated Jay Dholakia, the son of late Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Rajendra Dholakia, as its candidate for the upcoming Nuapada assembly constituency by-election.
The announcement comes just days after Dholakia’s dramatic switch from the BJD to the BJP, signalling a significant erosion in the opposition’s ranks ahead of the November 11 polling date.
The by-election was necessitated by the untimely demise of Rajendra Dholakia, a veteran BJD leader and three-time MLA from Nuapada, who passed away in September 2025 after a prolonged illness.
Jay Dholakia, a 38-year-old entrepreneur and social activist with a background in local education initiatives, had long been groomed as his father’s political heir within the BJD. However, internal party frictions and the allure of BJP’s rising influence in western Odisha prompted his defection on October 11—just four days before the nomination deadline.
Sources close to the development describe the switch as a “calculated poaching” by BJP state president Manmohan Samal, aimed at swaying the 65% tribal voter base in Nuapada, where issues like land rights, mining impacts, and infrastructure lag behind urban counterparts.
Adding firepower to the campaign, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is set to headline Dholakia’s nomination rally tomorrow, October 16, in Nuapada town. The event, expected to draw thousands of BJP workers and sympathisers, will underscore the party’s narrative of “empowerment through development,” contrasting it with accusations of BJD’s “dynastic politics” under Naveen Patnaik’s shadow.
