1. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, also BJD president, will run for two assembly seats.
2. He will contest from his traditional strongholds Hinjili and Kantabanji in the upcoming elections.
3. This decision reflects his strategy to broaden his presence in different regions of the state.
Bhubaneswar, April 17: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, also the president of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), has decided to contest two assembly seats in the upcoming state elections.
Alongside his traditional stronghold of Hinjili in Ganjam district, Patnaik will also vie for the Kantabanji assembly constituency in Bolangir district, situated in Western Odisha.
Patnaik’s decision to contest from two seats was revealed by himself while releasing the 5th list of nine candidates for the Assembly elections in the state.
This move mirrors his strategy from the 2019 assembly elections when he contested from both Hinjili and Bijepur assembly segments in the Bargarh district of western Odisha.
Notably, Patnaik emerged victorious in both constituencies but later resigned from Bijepur, choosing to retain the Hinjili seat.
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The latest list of BJD candidates, announced by Patnaik, includes six women candidates and four turncoats. Among the notable exclusions are four sitting MLAs— Purna Chandra Baka (Chitrakonda), Kishore Chandra Naik (Kuchinda), Rajnikant Singh (Angul), and Samir Ranjan Dash (Nimapara).
In a strategic move, Patnaik has nominated four turncoats to contest the assembly polls, including Arundhati Devi (Deogarh), Dillip Kumar Nayak (Nimapara), Rajendra Kumar Chhatria (Kuchinda), and Laxmipriya Nayak (Chitrakonda).
The six women candidates in the list are Laxmipriya Nayak (Chitrakonda), Barsa Singh Bariha (Padampur), Arundhati Devi (Deogarh), Sanjukta Singh (Angul), Sulkhnsa Gitanajali Devi (Samakhemundi), and Dr. Indira Nanda (Jeypore).
In a significant move, Angul MLA Rajanikant Singh was denied a party ticket, with his wife Sanjukta Singh nominated from the same seat.
Similarly, former minister and ex-MLA Rabi Nanda’s wife, Dr. Indira Nanda, received the BJD ticket for the Jeypore assembly segment in the Koraput district.
Another noteworthy decision was the nomination of S Gitanajali Devi, daughter of former MLA Nandini Devi, in the Sanakhemundi assembly segment.
Additionally, the BJD president interchanged the candidature of two leaders, with Rairakhol MLA Rohit Pujari nominated from the Sambalpur assembly segment, while Prasanna Acharya will contest from Rairakhol.
With this announcement, the BJD has revealed the names of 126 candidates out of the total 147 assembly segments in Odisha.
