BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Hinjili Assembly constituency, from where he will be seeking victory for the sixth consecutive time.
Voting in the constituency that comes under the Aska Lok Sabha seat is scheduled to be held on May 20 in the second phase polls for Odisha.
The chief minister is also fighting election from Kantabanji seat in Bolangir which will also go to polls on May 20. The date of his filing nomination from the second seat is yet to be announced.
Naveen accompanied by his trusted lieutenant VK Pandian visited the Maa Tara Tarini temple and took the blessings of the Goddess before filing his nomination papers. Thousands of party workers and general public had gathered in front of the sub-collector’s office at Chhatrapur to welcome Naveen before he filed his nomination.
BJD’s Lok Sabha candidates for Berhampur and Aska seats Bhrugu Baxipatra and Ranjita Sahu respectively, all the Assembly candidates of Ganjam district, state Finance minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, chairman of the BJD manifesto committee and former Union minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu were present with the chief minister.
Naveen had won from the Hinjili seat for the first time in 2000 with a margin of over 29,800 votes.
In subsequent elections in 2004 and 2009, his margin increased to 42,642 and 61,773 votes. In 2014 and 2019, the victory margin was 76,586 and 60,160 votes respectively. Party sources said that the BJD’s target this time is to ensure that the chief minister gets more than 1.2 lakh votes. He had polled 94,065 votes in 2019 and his nearest BJP rival Pitambar Acharya got 33,905 votes.
Sources said Naveen is scheduled to address public rallies at Khallikote, Kabisurjyanagar, Digapahandi and Chhatrapur on May 1. Besides, he will also visit Bhanjanagar, Polasara, Sanakhemundi and Surada on May 3.