The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced candidates for two Lok Sabha and nine Assembly seats in the State on Monday.
As per the list, Kharabela Swain, who rejoined the party on the day, will contest from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat while former State and CRPF DGP Prakash Mishra will fight from the Cuttack Parliamentary constituency.
Swain, who was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice on a BJP ticket from Baleswar, formally rejoined the saffron party here. “Inspired by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I rejoined the BJP to dethrone the corrupt and inefficient BJD Government in Odisha,” said Swain.
Similarly, former DGP Mishra, had joined the BJP on Sunday. Among the nine Assembly seats declared on Monday is Rishabh Nanda, son of BJD’s Rajya Sabha Member Prashant Nanda, who will fight from the Begunia Assembly segment on a BJP ticket. Rishabh too has recently joined the party. Others include Dinesh Jain from Jharsuguda, Debendra Mahapatro from Rairakhol, Badrinarayan Dhal from Bhandaripokhari, Pradeip Nayak from Bhadrak, Debanarayan Pradhan from Phulbani, Samapad Swain from Paradip, Narendra Nayak from Jayadev and Biswaranjan Jena from Jatni.
BJP has, so far, declared candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats and 130 Assembly segments.
