BHUBANESWAR: Sending a clear message to the BJD that BJP means business when it comes to electoral politics, the saffron party on Sunday nominated Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy for Berhampur Parliamentary constituency while announcing its fifth list which included 18 candidates from Odisha.
Expectedly, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was nominated from Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the nomination. The saffron party also dropped four sitting MPs, while choosing five new faces for the Lok Sabha.
Once considered to be the Man Friday of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Ganjam politics for more than half of his unrivalled political domination in the state, Panigrahy has been chosen as the saffron party’s candidate in the crucial battle for power in the state.
The TNIE had reported that Panigrahy was the BJP’s choice for Berhampur Parliamentary seat after he joined the party two weeks back as he has the fire to take on the BJD because of his knowledge of the internal dynamics of the regional outfit in Ganjam, the home district of the Chief Minister.
The selection of candidates for 18 Lok Sabha seats in the state is almost on the expected lines barring Balasore where sitting MP Pratap Sarangi was repeated despite conjectures that he could be replaced by a new face.
Nomination of Pradeep Purohit, the former MLA from Padampur, for Bargarh Lok Sabha seat in place of sitting MP Suresh Pujari was another surprise in the list of candidates announced by BJP on Sunday. Loss of four Assembly by-elections to BJD under Bargarh Parliamentary seat sealed the fate of Pujari who is tipped to be given a ticket for Assembly election possibly from Brajrajnagar.
The speculations of dropping Union Minister of state for Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat and sitting MP from Kalahandi Basanta Panda came true while four-time MP from Balangir Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo proved lucky.
The nomination of former MP and national vice-president Baijayant Panda for Kendrapara was also on the expected lines.
However, the surprises were new faces Kaleram Majhi for Koraput, Malvika Keshari Deo from Kalahandi and Naba Charan Majhi from Mayurbhanj.
These three apart, Panigrahy and Purohit will also fight in the LS contest for the first time.
The four sitting MPs including Tudu, Pujari (Bargarh), Nitesh Gangdeb (Sambalpur) and Panda (Kalahandi) who have been dropped are likely to be fielded in the Assembly election.
