Odisha: Ruling BJD First List of Candidates for Lok Sabha Assembly Polls

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, in a video message, announced names for 71 assembly segments and 15 Lok Sabha constituencies. 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 the BJD announced to field party’s organisational general secretary Pranab Prakash Das to fight against the Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) heavyweight candidate Dharmendra Pradhan.

Pradhan (54), the son of former Union minister Debendra Pradhan. He was elected to Odisha Legislative Assembly from Pallahara seat in 2000. He had won Lok Sabha polls from Deogarh in 2004. He was the national president of BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha from 2004 to 2006. However, Pradhan lost the Assembly elections in Odisha in 2009.

Pradhan was elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2012. He had served as the Union minister of petroleum and natural gas in the BJP-led government at the Centre from 2014-2019.

Pradhan was once again elected to the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh in 2018 and given the charge of the ministry of education when the BJP formed government at the Centre for the second consecutive term in 2019.

Das (51), the son of former Korei MLA and influential Janata Dal leader Ashok Das, was elected to Odisha Assembly from Jajpur seat thrice in a row since 2009. He had served as a minister in the BJD government in the state a few years ago.

Das, an influential BJD leader, had reportedly announced that he would take on Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan if the latter contests from any Lok Sabha seat in Odisha. Das will contest the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in his career.

The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, which announced its first list of nine candidates for 2024 Lok Sabha polls today, has given tickets to some of its prominent youth leaders including Das.

The party has fielded former MLA Ansuman Mohanty (40), the son of former minister Nalinikanta Mohanty, from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat. Mohanty, a first-timer in Lok Sabha polls, will take on BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda. Ansuman had been elected to Odisha Assembly on a Congress ticket in 2014. He recently resigned from Congress party and joined BJD. The BJD has denied ticket to sitting Kendrapara MP and actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty.

Former MP Pradeep Kumar Majhi (48), son of former Rajya Sabha MP Bhagaban Majhi, has been given BJD ticket from Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat. Majhi had been elected to the Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket in 2009. He had also served as Congress youth wing president and party’s executive president in Odisha before joining the BJD.

Hockey India president Dillip Tirkey (47) has been picked by the BJD to contest against senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Jual Oram from Sundargarh seat.

The BJD has chosen Manmath Routray (Around 45), the son of former Minister and Jatni Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray, to fight against sitting MP and BJP national spokesperson Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha segment. Manmath, a former pilot, will make his debut in the electoral politics.

Kausalya Hikaka (38), the wife of former MP Jhina Hikaka, has been given the BJD ticket from Koraput seat.

Here is the list of Assembly and Lok Sabha candidates announced by the BJD supremo:

NAMES OF ASSEMBLY CANDIDATES

Jagannath Saraka- Bissamkatak

Raghunath Gamango- Gunpur

Anusaya Majhi- Rayagada

Debesh Acharya- Bargarh

Rita Sahoo- Bijepur

Snehangini Churia- Atabira

Susanta Singh- Bhatli

Ashiwni Patra- Jaleswar

Subhasini Jena- Basta

Sanjib Mallick- Bhandaripokari

Prafulla Samal- Bhadrak

Bishnubrata Routray- Basudevpur

Sanjay Das- Dhamnagar

Byomkesh Ray- Chandbali

Pramila Malik- Bijharpur

Pranab Balbantray- Dharmasala

Sujata Sahoo- Jajpur

Pritiranjan Ghadei- Sukinda

Sudhir Samal- Dhenkanal

Prafulla Mallick- Kamakshyanagar

Nursingha Sahoo- Parjang

Mukesh Pal- Pallahara

Sushant Kumar Behera- Chendipada

Niranjan Pujari – Sonepur

Nihar Behera- Loisingha

Saroj Meher- Patnagarh

Kalikesh Nayarayan Singh Deo – Bolangir

Tukuni Sahu- Titilagarh

Rajendra Dholakia- Nuapada

Nabina Nayak- Umerkote

Ramesh Majhi- Jharigaon

Kaushalya Pradhani- Nabarangpur

Manohar Randhari- Dabugaon

Pradip Dishari- Lanjigarh

Dibyashankar Mishra- Junagarh

Puspendra SinghDeo- Dharmagarh

Latika Nayak- Bhawanipatna

Saluga Pradhan- G Udaygiri

Mahidhar Rana- Kantamal

Pradip Amat- Boudh

Debi Prasad Mishra- Badamba

Debi Tripathy- Banki

Sauvik Biswal- Cuttack-Choudwar

Ranendra Pratap Swain- Athagarh

Pramod Mallick- Niali

Chandra Sarathi Behera- Cuttack-Sadar

Arvind Mohapatra- Patkura

Pratap Deb- Aul

Dhruba Sahu- Rajnagar

Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak- Mahakalpada

Sunil Mohanty- Puri

Uma Samantaray- Brahmagiri

Sanjay Dasburma- Satyabadi

Rudrapratap Maharathy- Pipili

Bibhuti Balbantray- Jatni

Satyanarayan Pradhan- Ranpur

Ramesh Behera- Daspalla

Arun Sahoo- Nayagarh

Bikram Keshari Arukh- Bhanjanagar

Srikant Sahoo- Polsara

Latika Pradhan- Kabisuryanagar

Subhash Behera- Chhatrapur

Sanghamitra Swain- Sorada

Naveen Patnaik- Hinjili

Bikram Panda- Gopalpur

Biplab Patra- Digapahandi

Chanmanya Nanda- Chikiti

Chandrasekhar Majhi- Kotpad

Raghuram- Koraput

Manas Madkami- Malkangiri

Badrinarayan Patra- Ghasipura

BJD LOK SABHA CANDIDATES:

Sambalpur: Pranab Prakash Das

Sundargarh: Dilip Tirkey

Mayurbhanj: Sudam Marndi

Kendrapada: Anshuman Mohanty

Nabarangpur: Pradeep Majhi

Bhubaneswar: Manmath Routray

Koraput: Kausalaya Hikaka

Aska: Ranjita Sahoo

Kalahandi: Lambodar Nial

Puri: Arup Patnaik

Jajpur: Sarmistha Sethy

Dhenkanal: Abinash Samal

Jagatsinghpur: Rajashree Mallick

Kandhamal: Achyuta Samant

Cuttack: Santrupta Mishra