Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on April 30 filed the nomination papers from Hinjili Assembly constituency in his home district of Ganjam for the sixth consecutive time.
Mr. Patnaik, who is set to become the longest serving Chief Minister of India if his party wins this Assembly election, was flanked by his close aide V. K. Pandian and senior Minister Bikram Arukha.
Visit to temple
While the Biju Janata Dal supremo submitted the nomination papers, all seven candidates of the Assembly constituency coming under Aska Lok Sabha seat, including Mr. Patnaik, were present on the occasion. Before submitting nomination papers in the office of the returning officer, Mr. Patnaik visited Tara Tarini Temple, the famous shrine in Ganjam district.
Mr. Patnaik has been winning Hinjili Assembly seat consecutively since 2000. The margin of his victory from the seat was 60,160 votes in the 2019 election. Prior to that, the margin had consistently gone up from 29,826 votes in 2000, to 42,642 and 61,773 in the 2004 and 2019 elections respectively. His highest winning margin was 76,586 in 2014.
This time, he is also contesting from Kantabanji Assembly seat in Balangir district of western Odisha. Mr. Patnaik is likely to file his nomination for Kantabanji on May 2. In 2019, he had chosen to fight from a second seat — Bijepur in Bargarh district.
Nomination for Lok Sabha polls
BJD organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das also submitted papers for his nomination from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. He is pitted against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. This is the maiden Lok Sabha election for Mr. Das, whose post in the regional party is considered to be the most powerful after the president.
Two BJP heavyweights Sambit Patra, national spokesperson of the party, and Dilip Ray, hotelier and former Union Minister, also filed nomination papers from their respective seats. After narrowly losing the Puri Lok Sabha seat in 2019, Mr. Patra is seeking election from the prestigious seat. His principal opponent is Arup Patnaik, former Mumbai Police Commissioner, who is fighting the election on a BJD ticket from Puri.
Mr. Ray, whose conviction was stayed by Delhi High Court in the coal block allocation scam this month, has filed nomination from Rourkela Assembly seat. Besides, sitting Balangir MP Sangeeta Singh Deo of the BJP also filed her nomination papers on Tuesday.
