A record number of 45 aspirants have applied for Congress ticket for the ensuing elections for Sambalpur Lok Sabha and four Assembly constituencies of Sambalpur district.
While five are aspirants for the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, 40 are lobbying for tickets in the Assembly segments like Sambalpur, Rairakhol, Kuchinda (ST) and Rengali (SC).
With the general election and Assembly elections just two months away, hectic political activities have begun in the district with the opposition Congress ahead of others in completing the formalities. As the candidates list has come, now the PCC will scrutinize the names and send it to the high command for final confirmation, District Congress Committee (DCC) president Aswini Guru said.
Winning prospect and loyalty to the party will be given preference while selecting the candidates, he said.
Former MP Amar Pradhan, DCC president Aswini Guru, senior Congress leader of Kuchinda Sarat Gountia, Durga Padhi and Satendra Bohidar have applied for the Lok sabha seat, sources said.
Prominent among the ticket aspirants for Sambalpur Assembly seat are DCC vice- presidentNiranjan Tripathy, Kabita Badpanda, Sutapa Mitra and Dulal Pradhan. For Kuchinda (ST) seat, former MLA Rajendra Chhuria and Sobharam Pradhan are in the race for ticket while former MLA Durjodhan Gadtia, Sanjaya Chhuria , Tapasya Mahanand and Trilochan Mahanand have applied for Rengali (SC) seat ticket. For Rairakhol seat, the high command has already announced the name of 2014 unsuccessful candidate Ashraf Ali Khan. However, secretary, District Athletic Association, Dulal Pradhan has applied for the Rairakhol seat.
The ruling BJD and BJP have not taken any initiative publicly for selection of candidates. However, according to the BJD sources, party supremo Naveen Patnaik has entrusted some of the senior leaders and the district observers to assess the party position and probable names for the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats. The party had won three seats out of four in the last 2014 elections.
The party measuring popularity fielded a prominent doctor and social activist Dr Raseswari Panigrahi against senior BJP leader and political heavyweight besides former Minister Jayanarayan Mishra in Sambalpur last time. Dr Panigrahi defeated Mishra , a three time winner, by a comfortable margin of about 10,000 votes. Similarly, Youth leader Rohit Pujari won the Rairakhol seat while Ramesh Patua won from Rengali . BJP nominee Rabi Naik won the Kuchinda seat.