Bhubaneswar, April 25: In the upcoming election for the Khandapada assembly seat in Nayagarh district, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Dusmant Swain as its candidate, while the Congress party has nominated Manoj Kumar Pradhan.
However, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has not yet announced its candidate for this seat. The delay in announcing the BJD candidate has led to speculation and discussion in the constituency.
Interestingly, the incumbent MLA, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, who won the previous election on a BJD ticket with a record margin, has been expelled from the party due to alleged anti-party activities. As a result, BJD may not consider his candidature for the Khandapada assembly seat this time.
Other aspirants for the BJD ticket include Soumya Ranjan Patnaik’s daughter, Tanaya Patnaik, as well as Anubhab Patnaik (former BJD MLA of Khandapada), Sabitri Pradhan, Gayadhar Pradhan (chairman of Bhapur Block), and Sisir Sahoo (vice-chairman of Khandapada block). All of them are actively lobbying for the party ticket to contest the election from Khandapada.
The situation remains intriguing as BJD has already announced candidates for most of the assembly seats but has yet to declare its candidate for Khandapada. With only few MLA candidates left to be announced out of 147 assembly seats, the identity of the BJD candidate for Khandapada continues to be a topic of discussion in the constituency. It will be interesting to see who ultimately gets the party’s nomination for this crucial seat in the upcoming election.
