The Congress party has announced its second list of candidates comprising 75 nominees for the upcoming Odisha assembly elections. Among the candidates, nine are women, reflecting the party’s commitment to gender representation in politics.
The list, endorsed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal, includes a mix of seasoned politicians and fresh faces, with several candidates being former MLAs.
Some notable inclusions in the list are Pruthvi Ballav Patnaik, son of former chief minister JB Patnaik, and Sushmita Singh Deo, a relative of former Union minister KP Singhdeo.
Changes have been made to candidates in three assembly constituencies. In Talsara, former Indian Hockey skipper Prabodh Tirkey has been replaced by Debendra Bhitaria. Upendra Pradhan has been nominated in place of Surada Pradhan for the Baliguda seat, and Bipin Bihari Swain will contest from Kabisuryanagar instead of Chiranjeevi Bisoyi.
Additionally, Dr Debasmita Sharma, daughter of former Aul MLA Debendra Sharma, has been nominated, while Asit Patnaik, son of former MLA Jugal Patnaik, who recently joined Congress after resigning from BJD, will contest from Bhadrak.
The party has dropped two sitting MLAs, Suresh Routray and Adhiraj Panigrahi, from its candidate list. While Routray had previously announced his decision not to contest the 2024 elections, Panigrahi resigned from Congress and joined BJD, being nominated to contest from Khariar by the latter.
Former Odisha Pradesh Congress (OPCC) presidents Niranjan Patnaik and Jaydev Jena will be contesting from Bhndareipokhari and Anandapur assembly constituencies, respectively. Former MLA Debasish Pattnaik has been nominated to contest from the Banki assembly segment.
Rajanikanta Padhi has been named as the Congress candidate from Hinjili, where BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is also contesting.
With this announcement, Congress has finalized 119 out of the 147 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Odisha. Additionally, the party has made seat adjustments with CPI(M) and JMM for two constituencies.