Naveen Patnaik's BJD names 9 Lok Sabha and 72 Assembly candidates in first list — details here

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday (March 27) released the first list of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The first list contains names of nine Lok Sabha and 72 Assembly candidates in the state.

Voting for both elections in Odisha will be held simultaneously in four phases, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4. As per the BJD list, CM Patnaik will re-contest from the Hinjili Assembly seat for a sixth term.

For the general elections, the party has fielded its General Secretary (Organisation) Pranab Prakash Das against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan of BJP from the Sambalpur seat. He is a three-time MLA from Jajpur.

The party has fielded Manmath Routray, son of Congress veteran Suresh Routray, from Bhubaneswar. He joined the BJD earlier in the day.

The BJD has announced former Congress MLA Anshuman Mohanty as its candidate from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat while dropping its sitting MP and actor Anubhav Mohanty.

Pradeep Majhi, who joined BJD in 2021 after leaving the Congress party, will represent the party from Nabarangpur seats. He was earlier elected to Lok Sabha from this seat in 2009 as a Congress candidate. However, he lost the 2019 elections against BJD's Ramesh Chandra Majhi.

Besides them, Odisha Minister Sudam Marndi will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Mayurbhanj, while former Indian Hockey skipper Dilip Tirky has been pitted against former Union minister and sitting MP Jual Oram from Sundergarh.

The other BJD candidates include Lambodar Nial from Kalahandi, Kausalya Hikaka from Koraput and Ranjita Sahu from Aska.

Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, three are reserved for SC candidates and five for the ST candidates, while the rest of the parliamentary constituencies are unreserved.

In Odisha, voting for 28 Assembly seats and four Lok Sabha constituencies will be held on May 13. In the next phase on May 20, polling will be held for 35 Assembly seats and five Lok Sabha constituencies, followed by 42 Assembly segments and six Lok Sabha seats on May 25 and the remaining 42 Assembly seats and six Lok Sabha constituencies on June 1.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJD won 12 of the 21 seats in Odisha, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got eight seats. The Congress party could only manage to win one seat in the state.