The ruling Biju Janata Dal and the BJP are in a direct fight in Odisha, where the chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led party has ruled for two decades and the BJP is hoping to make inroads.
This tussle will be evident in Thursday’s polling when five parliamentary constituencies will vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election. There are 35 assembly constituencies out of the 147 that are voting simultaneously.
In the last Lok Sabha election, the BJD had registered a landslide victory with 20 out of 21 seats in its kitty and the BJP just one. The BJD secured 117 seats in the previous state election, followed by 15 by Congress, 10 by the BJP, two seats by independent candidates and once each by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Samata Kranti Dal.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to make inroads into states like Odisha to make up for the possible loss of seats in states like Uttar Pradesh, where it peaked in 2014 and won 71 seats.
{{/usCountry}}The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to make inroads into states like Odisha to make up for the possible loss of seats in states like Uttar Pradesh, where it peaked in 2014 and won 71 seats.
{{/usCountry}}Of the five Lok Sabha seats of Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska, four are extremely backward with a sizeable tribal population in at least three of them.
Among the assembly seats, two will be more closely watched as chief minister Naveen Patnaik is contesting from the Hinjeli and Bijepur seats.
Also read: All about Lok Sabha elections 2019
Union minister Jual Oram is looking to get fifth time lucky in Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat, which is reserved for the members of Scheduled Tribes. Jual Oram was the only BJP candidate to win a Lok Sabha seat in Odisha in 2014.
Also read: Numbers, names and issues in Odisha
The BJP Kusum Tete is fighting the polls from Sundargarh seat after her resignation from the ruling party in the state. Sunita Biswal, daughter of former chief minister Hemananda Biswal, will contest on a BJD ticket and George Tirkey as the Congress candidate on the Lok Sabha seat.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo is contesting to retain the Bolangir constituency on a BJD ticket. He is pitted against the BJP leader and his sister-in-law Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo and Congress’ new face Samarendra Mishra.
Also read: In 2019 elections, kinship rules the roost in Odisha
The BJD’s Achyut Samanta is up against the former member of Parliament Kharavela Swain, who was inducted into the BJP recently, in the Kandhamal parliamentary constituency in the Maoist belt. Congress leader Manoj Kumar Acharya is also in the fray.
Also read: BJD will aim to retain Kandhamal seat in Odisha
The BJD’s Pramila Bisoi will contest from Aska Lok Sabha seat, the ruling party’s pocket borough, against Anita Subhadarshini of the BJP. And, the Congress will back Communist Party of India(Marxist) leader Rama Krushna Panda in Aska, which was once represented by Naveen Patnaik.
The BJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya is fighting from Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency against the Congress’ Pradeep Debata and the BJP’s national secretary Suresh Pujari.
Votes will be counted on May 23 in Odisha along with all the other constituencies in the country.