Bhubaneswar, April 1 (IANS): A war of words ensued between the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha over the delay in announcement of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Leaders from both parties on Monday again targeted each other for not declaring the complete list of candidates.

“They (BJP) had claimed about going to form the government in 2024 by winning 80 assembly seats in the state. However, the reality is that Bharatiya Janata Party’s Odisha unit doesn’t have leaders to contest 80 assembly seats, let alone 147. For this reason, they are not able to announce the candidate name even for a single assembly seat,” said BJD Spokesperson, Swayam Parkash Mohapatra.

Mohapatra alleged that the state BJP unit is making those leaders who were expelled or left other political parties and those with criminal backgrounds as candidates.

Taking a jibe at the BJP, Mohapatra said leaders of the BJP are wandering here and there searching for eligible persons to make them candidates for the 147 assembly seats.

Senior BJP leader Golak Mohapatra on the other hand accused the ruling BJD is a party of criminals.

“BJD is terming everyone a criminal after any leader is leaving their party. Instead of offering us advice, let BJD first announce the names of candidates for the rest of the assembly seats if it has the courage,” said the BJP leader.

BJD has so far declared the candidates for 72 Assembly and 15 Lok Sabha seats out of the 147 and 21 Assembly and Lok Sabha seats respectively in the state.

The BJP has declared the candidates for all the 21 parliamentary constituencies. However, it is yet to announce the candidates for the assembly constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Congress is yet to announce the candidates list for both the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies of the state for the upcoming elections.

Veteran Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati on Monday indicated that the party may announce the candidates list within a day or two.