Former Minister Bimbadhar Kuanr, who joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) last week resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for being denied BJP ticket for the Bargarah lok Sabha seat, was a disappointed man again as he was ditched by BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik.
Kuanr’s name was neither in the second list of candidates for lok Sabha nor for State Assembly released by Patnaik on Friday for the first phase of the elections in the State to be held on April 10. However, sitting Congress MlA Anup Kumar Sai, who joined the BJD last week along with leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, was fortunate to get the BJD ticket from his present Brajarajnagar Assembly seat.
Patnaik announced the names of candidates for three lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats, leaving another two lok Sabha and 22 Assembly seats. He is yet to announce candidates for the remaining Koraput and Kandhamal lok Sabha seats and 22 Assembly seats which will go to the poll in the first phase. Earlier on Wednesday, Patnaik had released the list of candidates for five lok Sabha and 30 Assembly seats out of the 10 lok Sabha and 70 Assembly constituencies to go to polls in the first phase.
On Friday, Patnaik announced Chairman of Odisha Khadi and Gramodyog Board Nagendra Pradhan as the BJD candidate for the Sambalpur lok Sabha seat. He also fielded Balabhadra Majhi for the Nabarangpur lS seat and Dr Prabhas Singh for the Bargarh lS seat. The BJD was defeated in all these three lok Sabha constituencies by the Congress in the 2009 elections. On Friday, BJD tickets were allotted to ten of nine sitting MlAs, including Assembly Speaker Pradeep Kumar Amat. While eight sitting MlAs were renominated to contest from their present seats, Finance Minister Prasanna Acharay was shifted from Redhakhol Assembly seat to Bijepur Assembly seat and Rohit Pujari, who unsuccessfully contested from Sambalpur lok Sabha seat in 2009 general elections, got a ticket to contest from Redhakol Assembly seat.
The list showed that sitting Deogarah MlA Sanjeev Pradhan was denied ticket this time.