BJP Announces MLA Candidates For 112 Assembly Seats In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced candidates for 112 of the 147 Assembly seats in Odisha.

The list includes state BJP president Manmohan Samal (Chandbali), Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra (Sambalpur), Former Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik (Bhawanipatna) and former state BJP president K V Singhdeo (Patnagarh). The saffron party has renominated most sitting MLAs except Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra for Brahmagiri, where he has been replaced by his niece Upasana, who is the daughter of former Congress heavyweight Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra.

Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari, who was denied a LS ticket, will contest from Brajarajnagar. But the first Assembly list does not feature other dropped MPs like Nitesh Gangadev, Basanta Panda, and Union Minister Bisheswar Tudu.

The party has instead given ticket to Abhinandan Kumar Panda, son of Basanta Panda, from Nuapada. The BJP has also fielded youth leaders Tejeswar Parida from Patkura, Irasis Acharya from Bhatli, and Tankadhar Tripathi from Jharsuguda.

Film stars Akash Dasnayak and Siddhant Mohapatra, who were recently inducted into the saffron fold after they quit BJD, will contest from Korei and Digapahandi seats, respectively. Another BJD defector and sitting Jaydev MLA Arabinda Dhali will seek reelection from the same seat on a BJP ticket. Former MLA Priyadarshi Mishra, who is the son-in-law of former Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani, has been given ticket for Bhubaneswar-North constituency.