1. Six key Lok Sabha seats in Odisha are up for election today.
2. Constituencies include Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Puri, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack.
3. This marks the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Bhubaneswar, May 25: Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, six crucial seats in Odisha are set for polls in the sixth phase today. The constituencies include Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Puri, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack.
In the 2019 elections, the BJD secured Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Puri, and Cuttack, while the BJP claimed victory in Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar.
Polling Details
A total of 64 candidates are contesting in these six Lok Sabha seats. This marks the third round of polling in Odisha, aligning with the sixth phase nationally.
There are 9,448,553 eligible voters, consisting of 4,829,660 men, 4,617,602 women, and 1,291 transgender individuals. These voters will cast their ballots across 10,581 polling booths throughout the state.
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Prominent Leaders in the Fray
The primary contest in these Odisha seats is between the BJP and the BJD. Notable candidates include Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and four Odisha ministers: Prafulla Mallick, R P Swain, Ashok Panda, and Basanti Hembram.
Dharmendra Pradhan is contesting for the BJP in the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, challenging BJD’s Pranab Prakash Das. Pradhan replaces the incumbent BJP MP Nitesh Ganga Deb. Having lost the 2009 election, Pradhan later served in the Rajya Sabha representing Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
In Puri, BJP’s Sambit Patra faces BJD’s Arup Patnaik, a former Mumbai police commissioner. In the previous election, Patra narrowly lost to BJD’s Pinaki Mishra.
Cuttack features a significant contest between BJP’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, a long-standing incumbent who recently switched from BJD, and BJD’s Santrupt Mishra, a former corporate leader. Mahtab has served as an MP since 1998.
These elections are critical in determining the political landscape of Odisha, with both parties vying for dominance in this phase of the national elections.
