BHUBANESWAR: Congress on Sunday announced former MP Nagendra Pradhan as its candidate for Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. The party nominated senior leader Suresh Mohapatra from the prestigious Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency.
Besides, the party also nominated Sofia Firdous, daughter of senior Congress leader Mohammed Moquim as its candidate for Barabati-Cuttack Assembly seat. General secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) KC Venugopal in a release announced candidates for two Lok Sabha and eight Assembly seats. This includes replacement of candidate in Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat and two Assembly constituencies, Baripada-ST and Khandapada.
Pradhan, a former minister in the Naveen Patnaik government, had won the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in 2014 on a BJD ticket. He had resigned from BJD on Thursday and joined Congress. The grand old party had earlier announced Dulal Chandra Pradhan as its candidate from the seat but replaced him with Pradhan on the day.
Mohapatra is a senior leader and at present the president of the Cuttack city Congress committee. He had earlier unsuccessfully contested Assembly elections twice from Cuttack-Choudwar and a by-election from Athagarh. Congress sources maintained he has been fielded from the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat as he is a known personality who has the potential of attracting votes. Mohapatra replaced Panchanan Kanungo, a former minister who had contested as a Congress candidate from the seat in 2019.
Besides, the AICC approved the name of Sofia for Barabati-Cuttack Assembly constituency. OPCC had recommended her name on Saturday as her father and sitting MLA Mohammed Moquim cannot contest the election due to a Supreme Court order on ORHDC financial irregularities. The party also announced Pramod Kumar Hembram as its candidate from Baripada-ST Assembly seat in place of Badal Hembram. Both are district-level leaders of the party. Besides, Debiprasanna Chand, a former MLA from Jaleswar has been fielded from the seat.
While Pratima Mallick, Congress candidate for Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 has been nominated for the Assembly seat, the party has fielded Ajay Samal from Barchana. Samal had contested from Barchana on a Congress ticket in 2019. Other candidates are Fakir Samal from Pallahara and Baijayantimala Mohanty from Khandapada. Mohanty replaced Manoj Kumar Pradhan who was earlier announced as the party’s candidate from the seat.