Bhubaneswar, April 2 (IANS): The Congress on Tuesday released the first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.
Accordingly, the party has named candidates for 49 out of the 147 Assembly seats and eight out of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
The Assembly elections will align with the Lok Sabha polls in Odisha to be held in four phases -- May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.
According to the list, sitting MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka has been renominated from the Koraput Lok Sabha constituency, while Congress leader Janardan Dehury has replaced George Tirkey in Sundargarh.
George Tirkey will take on former India hockey captain Dillip Tirkey of the BJD, and four-time MP Jual Oram of the BJP in the tribal-dominated Lok Sabha seat.
Noted actor Manoj Mishra has been fielded from Bolangir, while Amir Chand Nayak will contest the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat.
Similarly, Droupadi Majhi, Bhujabal Majhi, Rashmi Ranjan Patnaik, and Sanjay Bhoi have been nominated from Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur, and Bargarh Lok Sabha constituencies.
Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Sarat Pattanaik will contest from the Nuapada Assembly seat, while senior leader and ex-IAS officer Bijay Patnaik has been fielded from the Paralakhemundi Assembly constituency in Gajapati district.
Sitting MLAs C.S. Raazen Ekka, Tara Prasad Bahinipati, and Santosh Singh Saluja have been renominated from Rajgangpur, Jeypore, and Kantabanji Assembly constituencies, respectively.
Similarly, Lipika Majhi, the daughter of Bhujabal Majhi, the party candidate for the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat, will contest the Dabugam Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket.
The party has also fielded veteran leader Narasingh Mishra’s son Samarendra Mishra from the Bolangir Assembly constituency.
Former India hockey team captain, Prabodh Tirkey, will contest the Talsara Assembly constituency in Sundargarh district, according to the list released on Tuesday.