Bhubaneswar: After announcing candidates for the first and the second phase elections, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has started a hectic exercise for selection of candidates for the third phase election in the state.
Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Bhubaneswar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack and Puri Lok Sabha segments and the 42 Assembly seats coming under these LS seats will go to polls in the third phase April 23. Of this, all six MPs 38 MLAs are with the ruling party.
The party has already announced names for Sambalpur and Rairakhol MLA seats. Sitting MLAs Raseswari Panigrahi and Rohit Pujari have been given another chance for these two seats.
Speculation was rife that the ruling party may not give tickets to three sitting MPs- Nagendra Pradhan (Sambalpur), Sakuntala Laguri (Keonjhar) and Prasanna Kumar Patasani (Bhubaneswar). Dhenkanal MP Tathagata Satpathy has already announced that he will no longer contest elections, while sitting MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab (Cuttack) and Pinaki Misra (Puri) are likely to be re-nominated by the party.
The ruling party is likely to field Nalini Kanta Pradhan for Samabalpur LS seat while former Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik may contest from Bhubaneswar seat, party sources said. Similarly, the BJD is likely to field a woman candidate for Keonjhar seat whereas a senior sitting MLA or a fresh face may be picked up for Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat. No final decision has been taken so far, they said.
Out of 40 MLA seats for which candidates have not been announced, at least 10 MLAs may not get tickets this time, reliable sources in the party said.
The party is likely to deny tickets to sitting BJD MLAs Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo (Athamalik), Ramesh Patua (Rengali), Mayadhar Jena (Anandapur), Bedabyasa Nayak (Telkoi), Abhiram Naik (Keonjhar), Simarani Nayak (Hindol), Mahesh Sahoo (Pallahara), Rabinarayan Mohapatra (Ranpur), Prasanta Kumar Jagadev (Begunia), and Bijaya Kumar Mohanty (Bhubaneswar-Central)
Besides, the party leadership may field fresh faces in place of Priyadarshi Mishra (Bhubaneswar-North), Sashi Bhusan Behera (Jayadev), Chandra Sarathi Behera (Cuttack Sadar) and Saroj Kumar Samal (Dhenaknal). There are also chances that the BJD may nominate one of the family members of the sitting MLAs for Banki and Cuttack- Choudwar seats. According to sources, Prabhat Tripathy and Prabhat Biswal are lobbying hard for tickets to their sons for Banki and Cuttack-Choudwar Assembly seats respectively.
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