Lok Sabha polls: BJP picks Bhartruhari Mahtab for Cuttack in Odisha

The BJP has also nominated Sukanta Panigrahy and Rabindra Behera as candidates from Kandhamal and Jajpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively

Published on: Mar 31, 2024, 11:18:28 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its second list of candidates for three remaining Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, picking former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as its candidate from the prestigious Cuttack Parliamentary seat.

Apart from Mahtab, the party nominated Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak Sukanta Panigrahy and former director of the National Informatics Centre, Rabindra Behera as candidates from Kandhamal and Jajpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

Mahtab, who has been elected from Cuttack six times since 1998, resigned from the BJD on March 22 and joined the BJP on Thursday, alleging that chief minister Naveen Patnaik had stopped meeting party MPs and MLAs for last five years and now “diktats” were being given to him and other leaders.

After his name was announced by the BJP, Mahtab said he will fight on the basis of the agenda set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The people in Cuttack support the Prime Minister. The challenge is big against a demonic force. I will win with the support of thousands of BJP workers and cadres. My rival has experience in another sector. I have learnt how to face challenges from childhood. The challenge will be in terms of money and muscle power. People have seen Naveen Patnaik. Now people do not want administration by a proxy. The winds of change are blowing in favour of the Prime Minister. Time is short, but I will try my best to reach as many people as possible,” he said.

In Kandhamal, Panigrahy would have a tough task in fighting Achyut Samanta of the BJD, who won around 50% of votes in the 2019 election. Panigrahy, who contested as the BJP candidate from Kandhamal in 2014, had finished third.

In Jajpur, the BJP decided in favour of Rabinarayan Behera, after its candidate for the last two elections, Amiya Kanta Mallick, opted to fight assembly polls. In Jajpur, the BJP won 40.5% of the votes in 2019.

The BJP had earlier released its list of candidates for 18 Lok Sabha seats.

The party is yet to announce candidates for any of the 147 seats in the state assembly that is going to polls simultaneously with the Lok Sabha. The BJD has already announced candidates for 72 assembly and 15 Lok Sabha seats for the four phase-polls beginning on May 13.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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