State Congress Sevadal chief joins BJD

Expressbuzz, March 30, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: Former Congress MP Subash Nayak will be the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate from the Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat. Nayak joined BJD after he was denied a ticket by the Congress.

Nayak’s will be the second case when Congress leaders have joined the BJD to get ticket. Former State Youth Congress president Rohit Pujari was given the BJD ticket for Sambalpur LS within hours of his resigning from the party. With Nayak going to be the BJD candidate, an interesting triangular contest is on the cards in this parliamentary seat.

While Congress working president Bhakta Charan Das has been announced as the party candidate from the seat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has renominated its sitting MP Bikram Keshari Deo who is seeking re-election for the fourth time in a row.

The BJD also changed candidates in some of the Assembly constituencies. Former MP Prasanna Kumar Acharya will be the candidate from Rairakhol Assembly constituency in place of Gitanjali Pradhan. Acharya was announced as the candidate from Bhatli.

Sushant Singh will be the candidate from Bhatli instead.

Ticket given to Akhil Jhodia from the Lakshmipur Assembly seat has been withdrawn.

Jhinna Hikka has been announced as the candidate from this constituency. The new candidates will file their nomination papers on the last day tomorrow.

Meanwhile, exodus from other political parties to BJD continued. Revolting against his sidelining by the party leadership, State unit chief of Congress Sevadal Raghunath Sahu today resigned from the party and joined BJD with his supporters.

Sahu was an aspirant for Assembly ticket from the Chilika constituency.

However, the party denied him ticket and announced the name of Manas Ranjan Mangaraj.

It is expected that Sahu will contest Assembly polls on a BJD ticket from the constituency.

Besides, the former Congress MLA from Hinjilikatu Udaynath Nayak and tribal leader from Mayurbhanj Raut Hessa joined BJD today in the presence of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani was also present.