Odisha elections 2019: Congress mum on Koraput Lok Sabha name

BHUBANESWAR: Of the four Lok Sabha and 28 assembly seats that will go to the polls in the first phase on April 11, Congress has failed to finalize candidates for one Lok Sabha and eight assembly segments. Speculation is rife that the delay has been caused by a tussle between two groups of leaders over selection of candidates.

The Congress on Monday night released its first list of candidates for six of 21 Lok Sabha and 36 of the 147 assembly segments in Odisha. Of the four Lok Sabha seats - Berhampur, Kalahandi, Koraput and Nabarangpur - which will vote in the first phase, Congress is yet to finalize a name for Koraput.

The Congress has made V Chandrasekhar Naidu the nominee for the Berhampur, Bhakta Das for the Kalahandi and Pradeep Majhi for the Nabarangpur parliamentary seats. While the party introduced businessman Naidu as its new face in Berhampur, Das and Majhi have been re-nominated from Kalahandi and Nabarangpur, respectively.

"We will soon finalize the name for the Koraput Lok Sabha seat," Congress state president Niranjan Patnaik said, avoiding questions on the delay.

Sources said the names of Saptagiri Ulaka and Prafulla Bhatra were recommended as potential candidates for the seat. While one group of leaders wanted Ulaka to be the candidate, a rival group wanted Bhatra, the sources said.

A computer engineer by profession, Ulaka is the son of former Congress minister, the late Ramachandra Ulaka, whereas Bhatra is perceived to be close to the Congress chief whip and Jeypore candidate, Tara Prasad Bahinipati.

"It is unfortunate that the name for the Koraput Lok Sabha seat has not been finalized yet. Some assembly segments that will go to the polls in the first phase are also yet to get candidates. I suspect someone from within the party is doing gadbadi (mischief)," Bahinipati told the media here.

Significantly, Congress is yet to finalize tickets for Chandrasekhar Majhi, Kailash Kulesika, Jacob Pradhan and K Surya Rao, who are the incumbent MLAs of Kotpad, Laxmipur, G Udayagiri and Paralakhemundi assembly segments, respectively. These segments will go to the polls in the first and second phases.

The first list of 36 assembly candidates included 23 new faces, among them Ram Krishna Panda, who has been pitted against chief minister Naveen Patnaik in Hinjli assembly constituency.

The party is yet to finalize its candidate for the Bijepur assembly segment from where, too, Naveen will contest this time. Denied ticket, Bargarh's former MLA and Congress leader Sadhu Nepak resigned from the party on Tuesday.

For the second phase on April 18, Congress has announced tickets for Bargarh, Sundargarh and Kandhamal Lok Sabha seats and kept quiet on Aska and Balangir. Sources said Congress was likely to spare the Aska seat for CPI, its ally.

Pradeep Kumar Devta has been made the candidate for Bargarh, George Tirkey for Sundargarh and Manoj Kumar Acharya for Kandhamal Lok Sabha seats. They will contest for the first time in those seats.