BJD elds Naveen Patnaik from Kantabanji, Hinjili Assembly seats
In an e¢ort to thwart the Bharatiya Janata Party’s aspirations to continue its 2019 triumph in the Lok Sabha election in western Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday announced elding Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from the Kantabanji Assembly constituency in Balangir district.
Mr. Patnaik will now be contesting the Assembly election from two constituencies — Hinjili, his longheld seat in his home district of Ganjam, and Kantabanji.
Kantabanji’s location near three Lok Sabha constituencies in western Odisha — Kalahandi, Balangir, and Bargarh, all won by the BJP in 2019 — makes it a pivotal choice. As Mr. Patnaik’s tour plans are nalised, his cavalcade will undoubtedly crisscross the heartland of western Odisha.
The Chief Minister contested from Bijepur, apart from Hinjili, in the 2019 election. BJD insiders said that the party intended to leverage Mr. Patnaik’s candidacy momentum across all other western Odisha Lok Sabha constituencies.
The regional party also swapped candidates announced for the Sambalpur and Rairakhol Assembly constituencies, taking winnability into consideration.
Veteran BJD leader Prasanna Acharya will now contest from Railrakhol instead of Sambalpur. He is replaced by Rohit Pujari, former Minister.
Both the constituencies fall in the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency where Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is pitted against BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das.
In 2019, the sa¢ron party has swept western Odisha winning the Kalahandi, Balangir, Bargarh, Sambalpur and Sundargarh Lok Sabha seats. The party does have a strong base in the region.
The BJD on Wednesday named candidates for nine Assembly seats in the fth phase announcement. As of now, the party has announced candidate for 126 Assembly seats and all 21 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
Of the nine candidates named by the party, six are women.
The BJP has elded 28 women for the Assembly election.