Naveen Patnaik to Contest from Kantbanji and Hinjili, Bolstering BJD’s Presence in Western Odisha

Bhubaneswar, 17 April 2024: In a strategic move to fortify Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) stronghold in Western Odisha, party president Naveen Patnaik has decided to contest the upcoming elections from two key constituencies: Kantbanji in Balangir district and Hinjili. This decision comes as part of a calculated effort to thwart any potential gains by the BJP in the region, where Naveen emerged victorious in the last election from Bijepur and Hinjili, both in Western Odisha. Later, he gave up the Bijepur seat in favor of Hinjili.
The announcement came today as BJD supremo Shri Patnaik unveiled the party’s candidate list for the fifth phase of elections. In this, he himself gave information about fighting in two seats. In a significant reshuffle, the party has also made changes to its candidate lineup, dropping 4 sitting MLAs. Among them is former minister Sameer Das from Nimapada, whose seat has been given to Dillip Naik, a recent entrant from the BJP. Sameer Das has been winning this seat since 2009. Similarly, Kishore Chandra Naik from Kuchinda and Purna Chandra Baka from Chitrakonda have been replaced by Rajendra Kumar Chhatriya and Laxmipriya Naik respectively.
Similarly, Kuchinda MLA Kishore Chandra Naik and Chitrakonda MLA Purna Chandra Baka did not get tickets. Rajendra Kumar Chhatriya in Kuchinda and Laxmipriya Naik in Chitrakonda will descend on maidan as BJD candidates. Shri Chhatriya won from Kuchinda in 2009 on a Congress ticket. He joined BJD on 12th of this month. Similarly, Laxmipriya was a candidate of Congress in Chitrakonda in the 2019 election. Later she left Congress and joined BJD.
On the other hand, in an important sequence of events, former Deputy Speaker and Angul MLA Rajnikant Singh was not nominated this time. His wife Sanjukta Singh will contest the elections ad BJD candidate from the same seat.
In another important decision, candidates have been swapped in Sambalpur and Redhakhol. Earlier the names of Rohit Pujari for Redhakhol and Prasanna Acharya for Sambalpur were announced. But Shri Acharya was unhappy about it. In the end, the BJD central thinktank changed its mind. Prasanna has been nominated in Redhakhol and Rohit in Sambalpur.
Arundhati Devi, wife of Sambalpur MP and Raja of Debagarh Nitesh Gangdev, who joined BJD yesterday, has been able to grab the BJD ticket immediately. She will contest from Bebagarh as BJD candidate. In Jaipur, Indira Nanda, wife of former minister Rabinarayan Nanda has got the BJD ticket. From Sankhemundi Sulakshana Gitanjali Devi, daughter of former MLA Nandini Devi, has got BJD ticket. Bijepur MLA Bqrsha Singh Bariha has retained her ticket.
Including today’s 9 seats, BJD has announced candidates in 126 seats so far. It has been informed that the candidates for 21 more Assembly seats will be finalized in two or three days.