The BJP on Tuesday announced the list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in Odisha.
Out of 147 Assembly constituencies, it declared candidates for 112 seats. Earlier the saffron party had declared names for all the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. The Congress also announced candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats and 49 Assembly seats.
On the BJP’s Assembly list, emphasis was given to accommodate all the leaders who deserted the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and joined the saffron party. The prominent leaders who deserted the BJD and got the BJP ticket include former MLA Priydarshi Mishra, former MP and film star Sidhant Mohapatra and former MLA and film star Akash Das Nayak. Sources said film star and Kendrapara MP Anubhav Mohanty, who joined the saffron party on Monday, is likely to get a ticket from Cuttack.
However, revolt against the distribution of tickets was reported in different parts of the state. High drama was noticed in Dhenkanal Assembly constituency. A section of party leaders protested against the party’s decision to give a ticket to Krushna Chandra Patra again even though he had lost elections four times earlier.
Party leaders scuffled in front of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was there to attend a “Mishran Parva”. Similarly, Debraj Mohanty from Aska in Ganjam district resigned in protest against being denied a ticket.
Earlier on Monday, the BJD said the BJP was not finding candidates for the Assembly seats.
“They are not finding candidates for the 147 Assembly seats. That’s why they have failed to announce names even for a single seat. That’s the reason why they are taking all the discards into their party fold,” BJD spokesperson Swayam Prakash Mohapatra had said.
State BJP vice-president Golak Mohapatra said: “We have declared the list of candidates. Let them declare their list. What are they waiting for? Perhaps, they are waiting to import leaders from other parties. The BJD is on the verge of collapse.”
Significantly, one of the stalwarts of the Congress Ganeshwar Behera today resigned from the party and is likely to join the BJD soon. Earlier, two stalwarts from the Congress, Anshuman Mohanty and Chiranjib Biswal, from the coastal belt joined the BJD.
Anshuman Mohanty has already been fielded as a candidate from Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency by the BJD. Sources said both Chiranjib and Ganeshwar Behera have been assured of tickets by the BJD.
However, the delay in the announcement of the candidates list has led to a kind of frustration among the candidates. The BJD has also far declared candidates for 72 assembly seats and 15 Lok Sabha seats. Sources said BJD is likely to announce another list of candidates soon.
As per the Congress list, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Sarat Kumar Pattanayak and senior Congress leader and former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das will fight from Nuapada and Narla Assembly seats respectively.