Even as the Congress announced him as its candidate for the Begunia Assembly seat, Prithvi Ballabh Patnaik, son of late former Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, refused to contest citing “personal” reason.
“Prithvi is unwilling to contest from the Begunia Assembly seat in 2019 elections,” PCC president Niranjan Patnaik told reporters on Wednesday.
Prithvi’s name figured in the list of nine Assembly candidates along with two Lok Sabha candidates announced by the central election committee (CEC) of the All India Congress Committee late on Tuesday night.
He had to take on BJD’s Rajendra Kumar Sahoo and BJP’s Risabh Nanda. However, his denial has put the Congress CEC in an awkward situation in selection of another winnable candidate for the Assembly segment.
The other eight Assembly candidates are: Baleswar- Manas Das Patnaik, Dharmasala- Smruti Rekha Pahi, Jajpur- Santosh Kumar Nanda, Hindol- Trinath Behera, Kamakhyanagar- Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra, Baramba- Bobby Mohanty, Paradip- Arindam (Bapi) Sarkhe and Pipili- Yudhisthir Samantaray.
The two Lok Sabha candidates are: Jajpur- Manas Jena and Cuttack- Panchanan Kanungo.