Bhubaneswar: The Central Election Committee of Congress Sunday named candidates for seven Assembly seats for Odisha and replaced two nominees while completing the candidate selection procedure for all 136 assembly seats.
Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his candidature from Bhandaripokhari assembly seat in Bhadrak district. He has already filed his papers from Ghasipura Assembly seat in Keonjhar district.
Patnaik will take on BJD leader and minister Badri Narayan Patra at Ghasipura and Prafulla Samal, also a minister, in Bhandaripokhari.
The party has fielded Nalinikanta Mohanty from Bhadrak, Sitakanta Mohapatra from Barchana, Rabindranath Kar from Salepur, Bibhranshu Sekhar Lenka from Mahakalapada, Lalatendu Mohapatra from Balikuda-Ersama and Satyabrata Patra from Nimapara.
In the latest list, the party has replaced two of its candidates with new faces. Debi Prasad Mallick has been nominated in place of Bibhu Prasad Tarai for Tirtol Assembly seat, while Smruti Rekha Pahi was replaced with Kisan Panda from Dharmasala.
The Congress is contesting from 18 Lok Sabha and 136 MLA constituencies. As it has seat adjustments with JMM, CPI and CPM, it has left three LS and 11 Assembly seats for JMM, CPI and CPI (M). The party has left Mayurbhjan, Aska and Bhubaneswar LS seats for JMM, CPI and CPI (M) respectively.
Similarly, the party has left five assembly seats for the JMM and three each for the CPI and the CPM.