Denied ticket? Many turn Independent candidates

Bhubaneswar: Many politicians have announced that they would contest as Independent candidates after they were denied tickets by political parties.

Among them some prominent faces are former MP Kharabela Swain, former MLAs Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Anubhav Patnaik, Premananda Nayak and others like Kalu Charan Khandayatray.

As many as 41 MLAs from different parties have been denied tickets during the upcoming elections.

Apparently upset over being denied a party ticket, former MP from Balasore, Kharabela Swain, announced to fight as an Independent candidate from the Lok Sabha (LS) seat. “I will contest from the Balasore Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming election as an Independent candidate. I will campaign in the name of PM Narendra Modi. Let the people decide who is the real BJP,” Swain told media persons.

Former MLA from Khandapada assembly constituency, Anubhav Patnaik, filed his nomination as an Independent candidate on Friday after he was denied a ticket by the ruling BJD. After much dilly dallying, the regional party nominated Bhapur block chairman Sabita Pradhan as its candidate from the seat.

On the other hand, Khandapada MLA Soumya Ranjan, who was expelled from the BJD, has also announced to contest as an Independent candidate from Ghasipura assembly constituency. There were speculations that Patnaik may be nominated by the BJP for Ghasipura seat, but the party announced Sambhunath Rout as its candidate from the seat. BJD has renominated MLA Badri Narayan Patra from the Ghasipura seat.

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