Bhubaneswar, April 4 (IANS): The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha on Wednesday released its third list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls and the second list of candidates for Assembly elections.
BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the names of candidates for 27 Assembly and five more Lok Sabha constituencies.
The party has renominated Manjulata Mandal for the Bhadrak Lok Sabha seat while Surendra Singh Bhoi has replaced Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo in Balangir Parliamentary constituency.
Kalikesh has been nominated by the party for the Balangir assembly constituency. Similarly, Parinita Mishra has been fielded from Bargarh Lok Sabha seat in place of veteran leader Prasanna Acharya who recently met with a serious road mishap in Rairakhol area of Sambalpur district.
Meanwhile, proving the speculation correct, ex-BJP leader Bhrugu Baxipatra has been nominated for Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency replacing sitting MP Chandrasekhar Sahu who has been made the party vice president and chairman of manifesto committee on Wednesday.
The sitting MP from Keonjhar constituency, Chandrani Murmu, has also been replaced by the party with a new face, Dhanurjaya Siddu.
BJD had earlier declared candidates for 15 Lok Sabha constituencies out of the 21 Parliamentary constituencies of the state.
The party is yet to announce a candidate for Balasore Lok Sabha seat.
The ruling BJD has renominated several sitting MLAs and many candidates who lost during the previous assembly elections in 2019.
The party has again fielded Alaka Mohanty from Brajarajnagar, Dipali Das from Jharsuguda, senior leader Ashok Chandra Panda from Bhubaneswar-Ekamra and Jogesh Singh from Sundargarh assembly constituencies. Interestingly, the BJD has fielded 81-year-old Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik from Berhampur Assembly constituency.
The party has also declared Ankit Pratap Jena as the candidate for Mahanga Assembly constituency in Cuttack district, replacing his father and sitting Mahanga MLA Pratap Jena following his alleged involvement in a double murder case.
The party has given ticket to Pritinanda Kanungo instead of her husband and sitting MLA Rajkishore Das for Morada Assembly constituency of Mayurbhanj district. Noted businessman Dr. Tirupati Panigrahi's son Rupesh Panigrahi has been fielded as the candidate for Parlakhemundi assembly constituency in Gajapati district.
Similarly, Anusaya Patra, wife of former MLA Ganeswar Patra, has been fielded from Badasahi in Mayurbhanj district.
BJD has fielded Anil Barba from Rajgangpur constituency in place of his father, Mangala Kisan who lost from the same constituency in the last elections in 2019.
Similarly, Binay Kumar Toppo, Bhimsen Choudhury, Chakradhar Hembrum replaced candidates who lost in the previous elections in Talsara, Bonai, Jashipur Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the state.
The BJD also nominated ex-Congress leader and sitting MLA Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi who recently joined BJD for Khariar Assembly constituency in Nuapada constituency.
Meanwhile, sitting MLA of Soro Assembly constituency Parshuram Dhada immediately resigned from the primary membership of BJD after the party declared the name of Madhab Dhada as the candidate for the constituency.