Bhubaneswar, (Samajweekly) Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced the first list of candidates for 72 Assembly and nine Parliamentary constituencies in the state, where simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and the Assembly will be held in four phases from May 13.
The party has fielded Pranab Prakash Das from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency, replacing Nalini Kanta Pradhan. The 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 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 Mohanty will face BJP’s national Vice President and former MP Baijayant Panda, who was earlier in the BJD.
In a surprise move, the BJD has announced Manmath Routray, son of veteran Congress leader Sura Routray, from the high-profile Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency. Routray’s name was announced hours after he formally joined the party on Wednesday. He will contest against former bureaucrat and sitting BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi.
Meanwhile, Pradeep Kumar Majhi, who joined the BJD after quitting the Congress in 2021, has replaced Ramesh Chandra Majhi as the party’s candidate for the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency. Pradeep Kumar Majhi, who contested on Congress ticket from the same constituency in 2019, had lost to Ramesh Chandra Majhi.
Similarly, the BJD has replaced Pramila Bisoyi with Ranjita Sahoo for the Aska Lok Sabha constituency. The party has fielded Sudam Marndi for the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat, replacing Debashis Marndi. The BJD also announced the Lambodar Nial for the Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency replacing Puspendra Singhdeo who had lost in the 2019 general elections.
The party, on the other hand, retained Kausalaya Hikaka for the Koraput parliamentary constituency. He 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. Barring a few new faces, many previous candidates have been retained.
The party has fielded Sujata Sahu for Jajpur as sitting MLA Pranab Prakash Das will contest the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. Similarly, Kalikesh Singh Deo has replaced his father Ananga Udaya Singh Deo from the Bolangir Assembly seat.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will contest from the Hinjili constituency in Ganjam district, which he has been elected five times since 2000.
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.
