BJD is fully prepared for the poll and will
perform very well
in Lok Sabha
and Assembly elections, asserts CM
Bhubaneswar: With the announcement of the schedules for the four-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state, all eyes were fixed on the distribution of tickets by the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
Ticket distribution has become an uphill task for the BJD as the number of aspirants for party tickets is much higher than those of the Congress and the BJP.
BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has already announced that his party will implement 33 per cent quota for women for the Lok Sabha polls. The party will field at least seven women candidates for this election. There is also a chance that the BJD will replicate this decision while distributing tickets for Assembly seats.
Even though the party is having at least two candidates for each Assembly seat, it has roped in many Congress and BJP leaders, bureaucrats into its fold. Since the regional party has been in power since 2000, anti-incumbency has come up as a major factor. The party has to select candidates keeping all this aspects in mind.
Commenting on the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections, Patnaik said the process is on and the list would be finalised very soon.
While replying to a question on the problem of plenty as a number of retired bureaucrats have joined the BJD, he said: “We will manage it well.”
Asked about the BJD’s poll preparations, the Chief Minister said his party was fully prepared and claimed that the regional party will perform “very well” in the Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.
BJD will field candidates in all 147 Assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha. In 2014 polls, the regional party had grabbed 117 MLA seats and 20 MP seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won a lone Lok Sabha seat while the Congress could not open its account. Polling for the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will be held in four phases— April 11, 18, 23 and 29.