New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday announced the candidates for three Lok Sabha and 11 Assembly constituencies in the state.
The saffron party declared candidates for six Assembly seats under phase three polls and five Assembly constituencies under phase four polls while all three Lok Sabha constituencies come under phase four.
The party has so far declared candidates for 20 Lok Sabha and 142 Assembly constituencies in the state. It is yet to announce candidates for Basta, Champua, Bhogarai, Kendrapara, Niali Assembly constituencies and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP fielded Abhimanyu Sethi, son of MP Arjun Charan Sethi, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party after quitting the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for Bhadrak parliamentary seat while Amiya Mallick and Biswesar Tudu were fielded for Jajpur and Mayurbhanj parliamentary seats, respectively.
Similarly, in Assembly segments, the party named Alok Sethi for Anandapur, Nabacharan Majhi for Rairangpur, Krushna Chandra Mohapatra for Morada, Sukant Nayak for Nilagiri, Bhagirathi Pradhan for Athamallik, Subhranshu Sekhar Padhi for Banki, Brajendra Ray for Athagarh, Bijoy Mohapatra for Patakura, Bijay Pradhan for Mahakalpara, Jayanta Sarangi for Puri and Aparajita Mohanty for Bhubaneswar North.
The party replaced Bhagirathi Sethi with Alok Sethi for Anandapur seat after he joined the BJD. The BJP also has shown faith in Bijoy Mohapatra who recently rejoined the party.
The party also fielded former BJD leader and Puri civic body chairman Jayanta Sarangi from Puri while actress Aparajita Mohanty has been nominated from Bhubaneswar North.
Former BJD vice president and state minister Raghunath Mohanty, who had resigned Sunday, is likely to join the BJP. Sources said the saffron party may field him from Basta Assembly seat.
The BJP also has given ticket to sitting MLA Sukanta Mohanty, who had recently quit BJD. It is to be mentioned here that the voting for constituencies under phase three will be held April 23 while phase four will go for polls April 29.