Ruling BJD releases first list of candidates for Lok Sabha elections
Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.
Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik announced the names for 71 assembly constituencies and 15 Lok Sabha constituencies in a video message. Of the 15 Lok Sabha candidates, 8 are new candidates while seven have been repeated.
Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency in western Odisha will now witness a high profile fight as BJD announced to field party organizational general secretary Pranab Prakash Das to contest against Union minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dharmendra Pradhan. Is.
Pradhan, 54, is the son of former Union Minister Debendra Pradhan. He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Pallahara seat in 2000. He won the Lok Sabha elections from Deogarh in 2004. He was the national president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of BJP, from 2004 to 2006. However, Pradhan lost the assembly elections. Odisha in 2009.
Pradhan was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2012. He served as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas in the BJP-led government at the Center from 2014-2019.
Pradhan was once again elected to the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh in 2018 and in 2019, when the BJP formed the government at the Center for the second consecutive time, he was given the charge of the Education Ministry.
Das (51), son of former Korei MLA and influential Janata Dal leader Ashok Das, was elected to the Odisha Assembly from Jajpur seat for three consecutive terms since 2009. He had served as a minister in the BJD government in the state for a few years. First.
Das, an influential BJD leader, had reportedly announced that he would take on Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan if he contested from any Lok Sabha seat in Odisha. Das will contest the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in his career.
Naveen Patnaik-led BJD today announced its first list of nine candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, giving tickets to some of its prominent youth leaders including Das.
The party has fielded Ansuman Mohanty (40), son of former minister Nalinikant Mohanty and former MLA, from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat. Mohanty, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time, will face BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda. Ansuman was elected to the Odisha Assembly in 2014 on a Congress ticket. He recently resigned from the Congress party and joined BJD. BJD has refused to give ticket to sitting MP from Kendrapara and actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty.
Former MP Pradeep Kumar Majhi (48), son of former Rajya Sabha MP Bhagwan Majhi, has been given BJD ticket from Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat. Majhi was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 on a Congress ticket. He had also served as Congress youth wing president and working president of the party in Odisha before joining BJD.
Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey (47) has been chosen by BJD to contest against senior BJP leader and former Union minister Jual Oram from Sundergarh seat.
BJD has chosen Manmath Routray (about 45), son of former minister and Jatni Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray, to contest against sitting MP and BJP national spokesperson Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency. Former pilot Manmath will make his debut in electoral politics.
Kaushalya Hikaka (38), wife of former MP Jhina Hikaka, has been given BJD ticket from Koraput seat.
The list of Assembly and Lok Sabha candidates announced by the BJD supremo is as follows:
