BJP announces candidates for 112 Assembly seats in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Tuesday renominated 17 of its 22 sitting MLAs and named new faces for Bramhagiri and Malkangiri Assembly seats in place of the sitting legislators for the upcoming elections.

Union minister of state for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu, one of the two sitting MPs who were denied renomination for Lok Sabha election, has not figured in the first list of 112 candidates. However, the party has named Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari for Brajrajnagar Assembly seat which he has lost thrice in the past.

As the CEC is yet to clear names for the remaining 35 Assembly segments in a House of 147 seats, it is expected that Tudu may figure in the second list. He is likely to fielded from either Saraskana or Rairangpur seat. While Rairangpur MLA Naba Charan Majhi has been named as candidate for Mayurbhanj parliamentary constituency, the party is seriously contemplating to replace Saraskana MLA Dr Bhudan Murmu for his poor performance, sources said.

Bramhagiri legislator Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra has given way to his niece and daughter of former Congress MLA late Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Upasana for the coastal seat under Puri parliamentary constituency. As Malkangiri MLA Aditya Madhi expressed his unwillingness to contest the upcoming polls due to serious health issues, the party has nominated a senior party worker Narasingh Madkami for the constituency.

The other notable candidates are leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Misha and sitting MLA from Bhawanipatna Pradipta Kumar Nayak. The party has reposed faith in them despite serious health problems. There were speculations that Mishra’s daughter Subhashree and Nayak’s wife may get the tickets from the respective seats.

With nomination of only eight women candidates, the BJP seems to be far away from its commitment to ensuring 33 per reservation for the fairer sex in the legislature. Senior leader and former minister Surama Padhi has also been denied a ticket from Ranpur seat.

The major beneficiaries, however, are those BJD leaders parachuted into the party just before the elections. Arabinda Dhali, who recently rejoined the BJP after a stint with the BJD, has been named as the candidate for the Jayadev seat in the state capital, which he currently represents in the Assembly. Similarly, popular actor and former BJD MP from Berhampur Sidhanta Mohapatra has been named for the Digapahandi seat. Another cine artiste Pinky Pradhan, who contested from the seat in 2019, was aspiring for renomination.

Odia actor and former BJD MLA from Korei Akash Das Nayak, who joined the BJP two days ago, is now the saffron party candidate for the seat. Priyadarshi Mishra is the other ex-MLA of BJD to get nomination from Bhubaneswar-North. The party has named Babu Singh for Bhubaneswar-Ekamra and Jagannath Pradhan for Bhubaneswar-Central seats respectively.

While youth leader Tankadhar Tripathy will fight from Jharsuguda, MLA Kusum Tete will contest from the Sundargarh, Biswaranjan Badajena from Jatni and Prithiviraj Harichandan from Chilika.

The party has also selected sitting MLA Suryabanshi Suraj, son of BJP leader late Bishnu Sethi, from Dhamnagar seat, Padmalochan Panda from Simulia, Rajendra Das from Soro, Gobinda Chandra Das from Remuna, Manas Kumar Dutta from Balasore, Braja Pradhan from Jaleswar, and Irasis Acharya from Bhatli.

The party has not named any candidate for the Nilagiri seat after the resignation of sitting MLA Sukanta Nayak, who switched camp to BJD on Sunday.