BJP’s Lok Sabha poll list for Odisha out; Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to fight from Sambalpur

Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today announced its first list of 18 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Odisha.

The party has fielded Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Sambalpur seat and former Union Minister Jual Oram from Sundargarh.

BJP leader Pradeep Purohit will fight the polls from Bargarh and former Union Minister Pratap Sarangi will seek reelection from Balasore seat.

BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda will fight the polls from Kendrapara while party’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra has been given ticket from Puri seat.

Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy, who recently joined the BJP, will try his luck from Berhampur seat.

The party has given tickets to Ananta Nayak from Keonjhar, Naba Charan Majhi from Mayurbhanj, Avimanyu Sethi from Bhadrak and Rudra Narayan Pany from Dhenkanal.

The BJP has re-nominated Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo to fight the polls from Balangir while Malvika Keshari Deo has been fielded from Kalahandi seat.

Aparajita Sarangi will seek reelection from Bhubaneswar seat. Former MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai has been given ticket from Jagatsinghpur seat. Anita Subhadarshini will fight the polls as BJP nominee from Aska seat.

The BJP has picked Balabhadra Majhi and Kaleram Majhi as its candidates for Nabarangpur and Koraput seat respectively.

This time, the party has not given tickets to Union Minister and Mayurbhanj MP Bisweshwar Tudu, Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari, Sambalpur MP Nitesh Ganga Deb and Kalahandi MP Basanta Kumar Panda.

However, the party is yet to declare its candidates for Cuttack, Kandhamal and Jajpur Lok Sabha seats in the state.