10 new recruits among BJP's MLA candidates

Bhubaneswar: Three ex-BJD and one ex-Congress MLA are among the more than 10 recent recruits in BJP to have found a spot among its 121 candidates, the names of who were released in two lists on Thursday and Saturday.

The BJP has fielded ex-BJD leader Damodar Rout, who represented Paradip in the assembly, from Balikuda-Erasama.

The seven-time MLA was elected from Erasama five times.

Two other sitting MLAs who won on BJD tickets — Debraj Mohanty (Aska) and Purna Chandra Nayak (Dasapalla)—have been named by BJP from their respective seats. Salipur MLA and ex-Congress leader Prakash Behera is the candidate from the same seat.

Kusum Tete, who had unsuccessfully fought as BJD’s candidate from Sundargarh and had joined BJP this week, will fight from the seat. Ex-MLA (Paralakhemundi) and ex-BJD leader K Narayan Rao and Babu Singh, who also joined BJP this week, got tickets from Paralakhemundi and Ekamra-Bhubaneswar, respectively.

The BJP has named Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, brother of late Congress heavyweight Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, as its candidate for Brahmagiri. Former BJD MLA Sidhartha Singh Mardaraj has been fielded from Khandapada.

Ex-minister and three-time former Congress MLA from the Simulia assembly constituency in Balasore district, Padmalochan Panda, who joined BJP earlier this year, was fielded by the party from Simulia. Manoranjan Dyansamanatray, who fought the 2014 polls on a Congress ticket, is BJP’s candidate from Chikiti.

Of the 10 BJP sitting MLAs, five have been fielded from the seats they represent — KV Singhdeo (Patnagarh), Radha Rani Panda (Brajarajnagar), Pradeep Purohit (Padampur), Gobind Chandra Das (Remuna) and Rabi Naik (Kuchinda).

Two — state unit president Basanta Panda and Deogarh MLA Nitesh Gangdeb — will run for the Lok Sabha.