Cong names 8 LS, 47 Assembly candidates

Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Tuesday released its first list of eight candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and 47 nominees for the Assembly elections, which will be simultaneously held in Odisha in four phases.

Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats. The party renominated its sitting MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who will contest from Koraput seat.

The other candidates for the Lok Sabha seats are Sanjay Bhoi (Bargarh), Janardan Dehury (Sundargarh), Manoj Mishra (Bolangir), Droupadi Majhi (Kalahandi), Bhujabal Majhi (Nabarangpur), Amir Chand Nayak (Kandhamal) and Rashmi Ranjan Patnaik (Berhampur). Among the Assembly poll nominees, it named Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak as the candidate for Nuapada, while the party’s campaign committee chairman and former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das will contest from Narla seat in Kalahandi district. Bhakta Das’ son Sagar Charan has been fielded for Bhawanipatna Assembly segment and bureaucrat-turned-politician Bijay Patnaik from Parlakehmundi seat in Gajapati district, according to the list.

The Congress renominated its sitting MLA C S Raazen Ekka from Rajgangpur and Taraprasad Bahinipati from Jeypore. Samakhemundi legislator Ramesh Chandra Jena has also been renominated, while Dasarathi Gomango will contest from his Mohana (ST) seat. Bolangir MLA Narasingha Mishra, who had earlier declared he would not contest the elections, has been replaced by his son Samarendra Mishra. Balabhadra Majhi, who recently joined the Congress after quitting the BJD, has been fielded from Lanjigarh Assembly seat. The party has left Bonai and Biramitrapur Assembly seats to the CPI(M) and JMM, respectively. Polls will be held in Odisha on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.