India, July 27 -- Trouble for Nayagarh MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo mounted after the Supreme Court dismissed his plea challenging the Orissa High Court's order to proceed with a poll petition against his 2024 Assembly election victory.

The apex court also directed the Orissa High Court to complete the hearing of the petition within six months.

The election petition was filed by BJP candidate Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, who challenged Sahoo's election from the Nayagarh Assembly constituency. She sought to have his election declared void, alleging that the Returning Officer had improperly accepted Sahoo's nomination papers despite non-compliance with statutory provisions.

Earlier, the Orissa High Court had refused to dismiss the election petiti...