The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has kickstarted its campaign for the Odisha Assembly elections by announcing its initial list of 112 candidates for the upcoming polls.
Among the prominent candidates fielded by the BJP, Jayanta Kumar Sarangi will contest from Puri, Prakash Chandra Sethi from Cuttack Sadar, and Jagannath Pradhan from Bhubaneswar Central.
Notably, Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal will be vying for the Chandabali seat, while Manoj Kumar Mehar will seek election from Junagarh.
In a significant move, the BJP has pitted Sisir Mishra against BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Hinjili constituency. The BJP’s candidate list includes eight women candidates, aiming to provide a diverse representation in the state assembly.
Suresh Pujari, the sitting MP from Bargarh, will transition to state politics and contest from the Brajarajnagar Assembly seat.
Interestingly, Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra has been denied a ticket from Brahmagiri in Puri district, with his niece, Upasana Mohapatra, securing the party’s nomination for the same seat.
The assembly elections in Odisha will be conducted in four phases, beginning on May 13, with voting for all 147 assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies scheduled across the phases.
In the previous 2019 Odisha Assembly polls, the BJD secured a significant victory with 112 seats, while the BJP won 23 seats, and the Congress managed to secure only 9 seats.
Similarly, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJD emerged as the frontrunner with 12 seats, closely followed by the BJP with 8 seats, while the Congress could secure only one seat.
The Lok Sabha elections in Odisha are scheduled to be held in four phases, with voting dates set for May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
Simultaneously, the polling for the Odisha legislative assembly will also be conducted in four phases on the same dates, with the counting of votes slated for June 4.
