Puri: The Puri District Congress committee (DCC) has initiated the process for selecting party candidates for the 2019 general and Assembly elections.
According to sources, the district unit of the Congress has already received applications for party tickets from aspirants for six Assembly constituencies and the Puri Lok Sabha seat.
It is learnt that as many as five people have applied for the Congress ticket for Pipli Assembly segment, which is presently represented by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former minister Pradeep Maharathy. Similarly, four persons have shown their interest to contest the Puri Assembly segment. BJD leader and Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty was elected from the seat in the 2014 Assembly polls.
Sources said that three aspirants have sought Congress ticket for the Brahmagiri Assembly constituency. BJD leader and former minister Sanjay Das Burma had won the seat in the 2014 elections. “Three aspirants have applied for Congress ticket for the Kakatpur Assembly seat and two for the Satyabadi seat. Only one aspirant has applied for Congress ticket for the Nimapara Assembly segment. Moreover, three persons have shown their interest to contest as Congress nominee from the Puri Lok Sabha seat,” said Puri DCC president Satyabrata Patra.
According to Patra, the DCC would soon send the applications to the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC). “The screening panel of OPCC would examine the applications and send its recommendations to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The party would consider the popularity and winning ability of aspirants while distributing tickets,” Patra said.