Odisha will simultaneously go to polls for the
Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in four phases, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.
Odisha has 21
Lok Sabha seats, of which three are reserved for SC candidates and five for ST candidates. The rest of the parliamentary constituencies are unreserved. Polling for the general elections and 147-member Assembly will take place in the last four phases.
Voting for 28 Assembly seats and 4 Lok Sabha constituencies will take place on May 13. In the next phase on May 20, polling will be held for 35 Assembly seats and 5 Lok Sabha constituencies. This will be followed by voting for 42 Assembly segments and 6 Lok Sabha seats on May 25 and the remaining 42 Assembly seats and 6 Lok Sabha constituencies on June 1.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJP), led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, won 12 of the 21 seats in the state, while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered victory on 8 seats and the Congress was restricted to one.
Earlier, discussions were on between BJP and BJD for a pre-poll alliance in the state, raising hopes of the two parties coming together for the first time after the BJD exited the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) back in 2009. However, the saffron party's state president Manmohan Samal on March 22 said that BJP will go solo in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.
Therefore,
Odisha will once again witness a three-way contest between BJD, the BJP and the Congress-led INDIA bloc, with each of them going all out to gather as many seats as possible.
Here's a look at some of the major
Lok Sabha seats in Odisha to watch out:
PuriA BJD stronghold, this seat has been represented in the Lower House of Parliament by party MP Pinaki Misra since 2009. Last time, Misra defeated the rival BJP candidate Sambit Patra by over 11,000 votes. The BJP has yet again fielded Patra from this seat, while the BJD and Congress-led INDIA bloc are yet to finalise their candidates.
SambalpurThis seat has been represented by both BJD and Congress from time to time. However, in 2019, BJP's Nitesh Ganga Deb registered a victory by a narrow margin of 9,162 votes against BJD candidate Nalini Kanta Pradhan. This time, the BJP has announced Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as its candidate from here.
KendraparaBaijayant Panda secured a victory from the Kendrapara constituency twice in the 2009 and 2014 elections, contesting on a BJD ticket. However, he later joined the BJP and lost the seat to BJD's Anubhav Mohanty by over 1.5 lakh votes in 2019. Panda is again representing the saffron party from this seat. His rival candidates are yet to be announced.
KoraputSince its inception, this Lok Sabha seat has been held by Congress candidates, including former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang, for the longest time. However, the BJD ended Congress' winning streak in 2009 and again registered a victory in 2014. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won this seat back from the BJD after Saptagiri Ulaka defeated the rival candidate by a little over 3,600 votes. This was the only seat won by the grand old party last time.
The BJP has announced Kaliram Majhi as its candidate from Koraput. The Congress and BJD are yet to declare their candidate for the seat.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
