Bhubaneswar: BJP’s first list of candidates for Odisha, which was announced on Thursday, is full of leaders imported from other parties.
The saffron party has come out with the names for 10 Lok Sabha seats and 100 State assembly seats in Odisha which will go for a simultaneous elections in four phases beginning from April 11.
In the Lok Sabha seats, former BJD MPs Baijayanta Panda and Balabhadra Majhi have find places for Kendrapara and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seats.
In the list for assembly are veteran BJD leader and former minister Damodar Rout(Balikuda-Ersama), Congress MLA Prakash Behera( Salepur), former Congress minister Padma Lochan Panda(Simulia), former Congress candidate Madhabananda Mallick(Basudevpur), and Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra(Brahmagiri). BJD leader Kusum Tete, who had fought the 2014 elections unsuccessfully from Sundergarh, has got the BJP ticket for her home constitutency. She had left the BJD only two days back on being denied renomination this time. BJD’s K Nrayan Rao (Parlakhemundi) and Congress’ Shiba Shankar Ulaka (Bisam Cuttack) and Manoranjan Dyansamanataray(Chikiti) are also in the list.
Amar Nayak (Bdachana), Gautam Ray (Jajpur), Biswa Ranjan Mallick(Bari), Pradeep Balasamanta(Sukinda), Alekh Jena (Rajnagar), Babu Singh (Ekamra-Bhubaneswar), Saroj P adhi(Aska) are all imported from other political parties.
The party has also nominated its senior leaders like former ministers KV Singhdeo, a five time MLA from Patnagarh, Samir Dey(Cuttack-Barabati), Jaynaryan Mishra(Sambalpur), and Surama Padhi(Ranapur). Sitting MLAs Radharani Panda(Brajarajnagar), Pradeep Purohit(Padampur), Gobind Das(Remuna) and Rabi Nayak(Kuchinda).
Mahila Morcha president Pravati Parida(Nimapara) and party’s state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan (Chilika) have also found place in the list.
Jaganath Pradhan(Bhubaneswar Madhya), Irani Ray (Nayagarh) and Bharati Behera (Khalikote) are others who are also going to contest the assembly election with BJP lotus symbol.
In the first list, the saffron party has fielded women candidates in three out of 10 MP seats and nine out of 100 assembly seats.
