BHUBANESWAR: Having announced candidates for 112 Assembly seats in the state, the BJP seems to be grappling with scarcity of candidates in nine of the 28 segments under four parliamentary constituencies which are set to go to polls in the first phase on May 13.
With the exception of Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat where candidates have been nominated for all Assembly segments, the saffron party has named candidates for three segments each under Koraput and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituencies.
Attributing the delay in selection of candidates to lack of credible faces in the two tribal-dominated parliamentary constituencies covering three districts where the ruling BJD is the dominant force, sources in BJP said the leadership is still doing the mathematics of permutation and combination to pick the right candidates.
“The problem with the party is that it has insignificant presence in the four parliamentary constituencies notwithstanding the fact that it had won the Kalahandi seat last time. There are many ticket aspirants but hardly any of them have the mettle to win,” said a senior leader.
The party had fielded Sisir Gamnago, the son of former chief minister Giridhar Gamango, from Gunupur. After he left the party along with his father to join BRS, the party nominated a former BJD MLA Trinath Gomanga. The party is yet to choose between Siba Sankar Ulaka and Jagannath Nundruka, a former BJD leader who recently joined BJP, for Bisam Cuttack under Korapur Lok Sabha seat.
Ulaka has been tested twice by BJP. He contested the Koraput Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and lost miserably by coming third with just 89,788 votes. The party had given him a ticket for Bisam Cuttack in 2019. He came third again and the winning margin of the BJD candidate Jagannath Saraka was more than 40,000.
The possibility of BJP nominating Nudruka appears high as he has served the district BJD in different capacities. A two-time sarpanch and samiti member, he served as the vice-president of Rayagada district unit of BJD and president of Koraput Central-Cooperative Bank and Special Development Council.
Similar is the situation in Rayagada Assembly seat where the party is in a dilemma whether to repeat Basant Kumar Ulaka who came fourth in 2019. The seat was won by Makarand Muduli, who had contested as an Independent after being denied a ticket by Congress. He even defeated three-time BJD MLA and former minister Lal Bihari Himirika. “The BJP is waiting for BJD’s next move. It is in touch with both Muduli and Himirika,” said a party leader in charge of Rayagada district.
The party has little choice but to repeat Goutam Samantray in Jeypore seat where he had secured nearly 34,000 votes in 2019. After denial of Lok Sabha nomination, former MP from Nabarangpur Parsuram Majhi is stated to have declined the offer of the party to contest from Jharigram Assembly seat. The party is facing similar problems in Dabugaon, Kotpad and Chitrakonda seats under Nabarangpur parliamentary constituency. The party has also not named a candidate for Mohana Assembly segment under Berhampur Lok Sabha seat.