Lok Sabha 2019 constituency: Kendrapara will throw a challenge for BJD after Baijayant Panda’s exit

Former BJD lawmaker Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda represented the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat till his resignation from the Lok Sabha last year. He had won the seat for the first time in the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Kendrapara.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has dominated the political scene in Kendrapara, one of the 21 parliamentary constituencies in Odisha, since 1998.

Former Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant Panda greets BJP national president Amit Shah after joining Bharatiya Janata Party on March 4, 2019. (PTI file photo)

Former BJD lawmaker Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda represented the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat till his resignation from the Lok Sabha last year. He had won the seat for the first time in the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Kendrapara.

Baijayant Panda, who was first suspended and then quit the BJD last year after being allegedly marginalised in the ruling party in Odisha, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier in March.

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The Naveen Patnaik-led party has now fielded Odia actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty against Baijayant Panda from the Kendrapara constituency. Panda was elected to the Lok Sabha three times from Kendrapara, where the BJP has a marginal presence.

Kendrapara will vote on April 29 in the fourth round of seven-phased Lok Sabha election 2019. The result will be declared on May 23.

Here are some facts about the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat:

Name of the Lok Sabha constituency: Kendrapara

Polling date: April 29

Sitting MP, party: Baijayant Panda, BJD (now in BJP)

Winning margin in 2014: 209,300

Runner up name, party: Dharanidhar Nayak, Congress

Number of voters in 2014: 1,140,999

Percentage of votes polled in 2014: 73.36%

Number of women voters in 2014: 726,953

Number of polling booths in 2014: 1,935