True to his words, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik has fielded women candidates in 33 per cent of the 21 Lok Sabha seats for the ensuing elections in the State.
Patnaik’s regional party, which aims to come to power for a record fifth time in the State, has put up seven women constituting one-third of the candidates, considered a first in the history of Indian electoral politics.
In this respect, Patnaik had thrown the gauntlet for the opposition parties to follow the suit. However, it is highly unlikely that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress will get even closer to the BJD’s percentage of women nominees.
The seven women nominees of the conch party are:
Kausalya Hikaka-Koraput: She is wife of sitting Koraput MP Jhina Hikaka, She has replaced her husband in the constituency and is contesting against Jayaram Pangi of BJP and Saptagiri Ulaka of Congress.
Pramila Bisoi-Aska: The septuagenarian woman known for spearheading the Self-Help Group (SHG) movement in the State is contesting against Anita Priyadarshini of BJP and Ramakrushna Panda of CPI.
Sunita Biswal-Sundargarh: Daughter of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Hemananda Biswal, Sunita is the debutant face of BJD in this western Odisha parliamentary constituency. She quit the Congress and joined the BJD last month. She is pitted against Union Minister Jual Oram of BJP and Congress leader George Tirkey. Chandrani Murmu-Keonjhar: This young technocrat is making her debut in politics. She is the granddaughter of former Keonjhar MP Harihar Soren and was nominated as the BJD candidate the day she joined the party. Her rivals are BJP’s Ananta Nayak and Congress’ Fakir Mohan Naik.
Dr Rajashree Mallick-Jagatsinghpur: This sitting MLA of Tirtol, a pathology doctor, is contesting against newbie Pratima Mallick of Congress. The BJP is yet to declare its candidate for this seat.
Sarmistha Sethi-Jajpur: She recently resigned from the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) to contest elections. She is being pitted against Amiya Mallick of BJP and Manas Jena of Congress.
Manjulata Mandal-Bhadrak: She is the spouse of sitting Dhamnagar MLA Muktikanta Mandal. She will lock horns with BJP’s Abhimanyu Sethi and Congress’ Madhumita Sethi.