Bhubaneswar: BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday announced the second list of candidates for Assembly polls and the third list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls for the upcoming simultaneous polls scheduled to be held in the state between May 13 and June 1, 2024.
With this, the BJD has fielded 20 candidates for the 21 Lok Sabha seats, barring Balasore. The party has so far announced nominees for 99 assembly seats out of 147.
Patnaik has denied tickets to seven sitting MLAs and dropped two MPs from the list. They have been replaced by new aspirants.
The sitting MLAs who were denied re-nomination are Parsuram Dhada (Soro), Ramesh Chandra Sai (Athamallik), Angad Kanhar (Phulbani), Bijay Shankar Das (Tirtol), Pritam Padhi (Pottangi), Pratap Jena (Mahanga) and Rajkishore Das (Moroda).
While Pratap Jena of Mahanga has been replaced by his son Ankit, Morada MLA Rajkishore Das’s wife Preetinanda Kanungo was nominated by the party.
Meanwhile, Soro MLA Parsuram Dhada, within hours of being denied re-nomination, resigned from BJD. “I resigned from the party with a heavy heart,” he wrote to Patnaik.
Former Phulbani MLA Debendra Kanhar, who was elected in 2009, also resigned from the party without revealing the reason. He was also in the race for party ticket this time, sources said.
The party has also dropped two sitting MPs – Chandrani Murmu (Keonjhar) and Chandrasekhar Sahu (Berhampur).
Barring Baxipatra and Mishra, the three LS candidates declared today are Surendra Singh Bhoi (Bolangir), Manjulata Mandal (Bhadrak) and Dhanurjay Siddu (Keojhar).
Of the five LS candidates, only Mandal was renominated while the remaining are new. While Mishra and Baxipatra joined the party during the day, Singh Bhoi had resigned from Congress and joined the BJD last week.
The 27-member list released for the assembly elections included seven women candidates. They are Anusaya Patra (Badasahi), Preetinanda Kanungo (Morada), Alaka Mohanty (Brajrajnagar), Depali Das (Jharsuguda), Jayashree Kanhar (Phulbani), Suryamani Vaidya (Khalikote) and Majula Swain Aska.
The turncoats who have been nominated by the BJD are Adhiraj Panigrahi (Khariar AS), Surendra Singh Bhoi (Bolangir- LS), Parineeta Mishra (Bargarh LS) and Bhrugu Baxmipatra (Berhampur-LS).
The regional party has re-nominated former minister Padmanav Behera from Biramaharajpur assembly seat, which he has been representing since 2009.
The ruling party had announced its first list of candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats and 72 assembly seats on March 27. The party released the second list of six more candidates for Lok Sabha polls the same day.
Here is the second phase list of candidates for the Assembly polls:
1. Brajrajnagar: Alaka Mohanty
2. Jharsuguda: Dipali Das
3. Talsara: Bijay Toppo
4. Sundargarh: Jogesh Singh
5. Rajgangpur: Anil Barwa
6. Bonai: Bhimsen Choudhury
7. Jashipur: Chakradhar Hembram
8. Khariar: Adhiraj Panigrahi
9. Phulbani: Jayshree Kanhar
10. Mahanga: Ankit Pratap Jena
11. Tirtol: Ramakant Bhoi
12. Jagatsinghpur: Prasant Muduli
13. Bhubaneswar-North: Susanta Rout
14. Ekamra-Bhubaneswar: Ashok Panda
15. Khalikote: Suryamani Vaidya
16. Aska: Manjula Swain
17. Berhampur: Ramesh Chyupatnaik
18. Paralakhemundi: Rupesh Panigrahi
19. Udala: Srinath Soren
20. Baripada: Sananda Marndi
21. Badasahi: Anusaya Patra
22. Moroda: Preetinanda Kanungo
23. Soro: Madhab Dhada
24. Athmallik: Nalinikant Pradhan
25. Birmaharajpur: Padmanav Behera
26. Mohona: Antaryami Gamango
27. Pottangi: Prafulla Pangi
Here is the third phase list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls:
1. Surendra Singh Bhoi from Balangir
2. Manjulata Mandal from Bhadrak
3. Parineeta Mishra from Bargarh
4. Bhrugu Baxipatra from Berhampur
5. Dhanurjay Siddu from Keonjhar
PNN & Agencies
