Secretary of the Legislative Assembly has sent a letter in this regard to all members of the House, informing them that the election will be held at 9.30 am.

The position fell vacant after Rajanikant Singh resigned on November 8, saying he was unable to participate in party activities ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The Deputy Speaker post is a constitutional one, for which I was unable to participate in party activities. It was a pending decision. I stepped down in view of the upcoming actions. It will allow me to strengthen party’s organisation and reach out to the people,” he said soon after tendering his resignation.

A four-time MLA from Angul constituency, Singh had been serving as the Deputy Speaker of the assembly since 2019.

The winter session of the Assembly, on the other hand, will continue till December 30 and will have 30 business days. At least 23 days will be allocated for official business and six days for Private Members’ Business (Bills and Resolutions), according to the provisional calendar. The Assembly will remain closed on the occasion of Rasa Purnima on November 27 and Christmas on December 25. The House will not meet on November 25 and 26.

This is likely to be the last session of the Assembly before twin polls next year.

Speaking at a presser, BJP’s Rengali MLA Nauri Nayak on Friday said that it would not be possible for the MLAs of western Odisha to reach Bhubaneswar to attend the election as the celebration continues till the next day. “Though we had demanded for a change in election date, the government paid no heed to it,” he said.

Nuakhai is an important agrarian festival of western Odisha and it is celebrated with pomp and gaiety in several districts, including Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Boudh and Sonepur.

“The state government is being run by non-Odia bureaucrats and they seems to have no knowledge about Nuakhai and western Odisha. It is unfortunate that the BJD leaders from western Odisha also did not raise the issue with the government,” he said.

As per the direction of Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra and Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, the party’s legislators would boycott the poll, he added.

On Thursday, Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra had told the media that the party’s MLAs will not join the election process on September 21 as the festival is observed for two days across the western region of the state. “Despite protests, the government did not listen to our problem. The Congress MLAs will not be able to attend the Speaker election on that day,” he said.

Narasingha also accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of meting out “step-motherly” treatment to the people of the region.

While declining to comment on the matter as it is under the Department of Parliamentary Affairs, Planning and Convergence Minister Rajendra Dholakia, who hails from western Odisha, rubbished the allegation. “The CM has always given importance to Western Odisha. Be it medical colleges in Kalahandi and Balangir, there are several examples to show that the allegation is not true,” he told PTI.

On Wednesday, state Congress media cell chairman Ganeswar Behera had said that ‘Nuakhai’ will be celebrated on September 20 while ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’ will be held on September 21. “People across western Odisha celebrate the festival with enthusiasm and fervour and partake the offering after ‘Nabanna’ is offered to Maa Samaleswari. In view of the importance of this popular festival, the state government generally declares holiday for two days every year. However, only one holiday has been declared this year,” he said in a statement.

Notably, the Speaker post has remained vacant since the resignation of Bikram Keshari Arukha on May 12. Deputy Speaker Rajanikant Singh is in charge now.