IANS | 27 Mar, 2024
Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced the first list of candidates for
72 Assembly and nine parliamentary constituencies in the state for the
simultaneous elections scheduled from May 13.
The party has fielded Pranab Prakash Das from Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency replacing Nalini Kanta Pradhan.
The
Sambalpur parliamentary constituency will witness an intense fight as
the Bharatiya Janata Party has already announced the name of Union
Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the seat.
Similarly, veteran
hockey player and former Indian hockey team captain Dilip Tirkey will
contest the elections from Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency against
former Union minister and senior BJP leader Jual Oram.
The BJD has
fielded Anshuman Mohanty from Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency
replacing popular Odia cine star Anubhav Mohanty. Anshuman will face
BJP’s national vice-president and former MP Baijayant Panda in the
elections.
In a surprise move, the BJD has announced Manmath
Routray, son of veteran Congress leader Sura Routray, as candidate from
high profile Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency. Manmath’s name was
announced just hours after he formally joined the party on Wednesday. He
will contest against former bureaucrat and sitting MP Aparajita
Sarangi.
Meanwhile, Pradeep Kumar Majhi, who joined BJD after
quitting Congress in 2021, has replaced Ramesh Chandra Majhi as the
party’s candidate for the Nabarangpur Lok Ssabha constituency. Pradeep
who contested on Congress ticket from the same constituency in 2019 had
lost to Ramesh Chandra.
Similarly, BJD has replaced Pramila Bisoyi
with Ranjita Sahoo for the Aska Lok Sabha constituency this time. The
party has fielded Sudam Marndi for Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat, replacing
Debashis Marndi. The BJD also announced the Lambodar Nial for Kalahandi
Lok Sabha constituency replacing Puspendra Singhdeo who had lost to
Basanta Kumar Panda in 2019 general elections.
The party on the
other hand retained Kausalaya Hikaka for Koraput parliamentary
constituency who had lost to Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka of Congress in the
2019 elections.
The party has also announced the list of
candidates for 72 assembly constituencies for the upcoming elections. It
had retained many previous candidates barring a few new faces. The
party has fielded Sujata Sahu for Jajpur as Pranab Prakash Das has been
announced to contest from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. Similarly, Kalikesh
Singh Deo has replaced father Ananga Udaya Singh Deo from Bolangir
Assembly seat this time.
Simultaneous elections to 21 Lok Sabha
and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha will be held in four phases on May 13,
May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes will be taken up on
June 4.
