BJP releases its first list for Orissa assembly polls

BJP Orissa unit president Manmohan Samal, General Secretary Raj Kishore Das, former union minister Debendra Pradhan and all the nine ministers in BJD-BJP Govt in the state have found place in the first list of 41 candidates for assembly polls.

BJP Orissa unit president Manmohan Samal, General Secretary Raj Kishore Das, former union minister Debendra Pradhan and all the nine ministers in the BJD-BJP coalition government in the state have found place in the first list of 41 candidates for the assembly elections released on March 17.

Five party members in the dissolved assembly have been omitted from the list, which was made public at a news conference addressed by senior party leader Biswabhushan Harichandan here.

BJP will contest 63 of the total 147 seats, while BJD will set up candidates in the remaining 84 seats as in the 2000 assembly polls.

BJD is yet to finalise its candidates for both Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

The five legislators dropped from the list are Nibedita Pradhan (Cuttack Sadar), Dharmendra Pradhan (Pallahara), Surendra Kanhar (Baliguda-st), Shankar Oram (Raghunathpali-st) and Bhanu Charan Naik (Jashipur-st).

While Nibedita Pradhan had been elected as mayor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Dharmendra Pradhan is slated to contest from Deogarh Lok Sabha seat this time in place of his father and former union minister Debendra Pradhan.

The senior Pradhan would contest the assembly poll from his son's Pallahara constituency.Harichandan said names of candidates for the rest of the seats would be finalised very soon.