New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced its first list of 112 candidates for the assembly polls in Odisha.
The BJP has fielded Jayanta Kumar Sarangi from Puri, Prakash Chandra Sethi from Cuttack Sadar, and Jagannath Pradhan from Bhubaneswar Central.
Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal will be contesting from Chandabali, and Manoj Kumar Mehar will fight from Junagarh.
Meanwhile, the party has fielded Sisir Mishra from Hinjili, where he will be up against BJD supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
There are eight women candidates on the BJP's first list. Sitting MP from Bargarh Suresh Pujari will contest from the Brajarajnagar Assembly seat.
Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra has been denied the ticket from Brahmagiri in Puri district. Mohapatra's niece, Upasana Mohapatra, got the ticket from the Brahmagiri Assembly seat.
Simultaneous elections to 147 assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in Odisha in four phases starting May 13.
Earlier in the 2019 Odisha Assembly polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) secured a significant victory with 112 seats, the BJP won 23 seats, and the Congress went from 16 to 9 seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJD got the maximum number of seats, followed by the BJP and the Congress. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8 seats and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.
The Lok Sabha elections in Odisha are set to take place in four phases. The voting dates have been scheduled for May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
Also, the voting for the Odisha legislative assembly will also be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)
