ANGUL: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) top brass seems to be burning midnight oil over selection of candidates for four Assembly constituencies of undivided Dhenkanal district for which none has been named so far.
With nine assembly constituencies at play, the BJD’s decision to delay candidate announcements for Talcher, Athamallik, Angul and Hindol constituencies hints at recalibration of the strategy. While the party has finalised candidates for five constituencies, the absence of nominations for the remaining four points at hunt for fresh faces to strengthen winning prospects.
A party insider revealed the delay may be attributed to accommodating Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo who was not re-nominated for the parliamentary constituency. Speculations are rife that he could be nominated either from Talcher or Hindol Assembly segments while he has longstanding political association with Talcher.
Talcher has been Sahoo’s home turf from where he became MLA thrice as a BJP member before shifting to Pallahara in 2014 when he won on a BJD ticket. For him to be nominated from Talcher Assembly segment, BJD will have to drop incumbent MLA Braja Kishore Pradhan.
In Athamallik, sitting MLA Ramesh Sai may be denied party ticket paving way for Nalinikanta Pradhan, a former bureaucrat who unsuccessfully contested from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Party sources indicate that discussions are on with Pradhan to bolster party presence in the constituency.
On the other hand, Rajanikanta Singh, the current BJD MLA from Angul enjoys favour of the party hierarchy and is likely to retain nomination despite lobbying efforts from aspirants such as Sakti Patnaik, Biplab Jena and Mahesh Dhal. Similarly, the BJD has not named anyone for the Hindol seat which suggests MLA Simarani Nayak may not be re-nominated.
The Assembly segments of Dhenkanal districts hold immense political significance for BJD of its influence on two crucial parliamentary constituencies. Out of the nine constituencies, seven fall under Dhenkanal parliamentary seat while two are part of the Sambalpur parliamentary constituency.
Since BJD has pitted its organizational secretary Pranab Prakash Das from Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency against Union Education Minister and BJP heavyweight Dhermendra Pradhan, the nominations for the Assembly segments from Dhenkanal districts must go right for the ruling party, political observers said.