BJD Names Rita Sahu As Bijepur By-Poll Candidate

Bhubaneswar: Ending all speculations in political circles, Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced the name of Rita Sahu as the party candidate for the Bijepur by-polls on October 21.

“I am indebted to the people of Bejipur for the blessings they showered on me. Bijepur would continue to be a focus constituency for me,” the CM told the media at his residence Naveen Niwas.

On her part, Rita expressed her gratitude to the BJD chief and claimed the party will again win from Bijepur with a landslide margin.

She admitted that there was intra-party squabble over her candidature, but added that the dissension has been resolved.

After the death of husband and sitting Congress MLA of Bijepur in August 2017, the BJD had picked Rita as its party candidate. She was elected in February last year.

Later, Rita had vacated the Bijepur seat to Naveen Patnaik in the Assembly election this year. The CM had contested from Bijepur and his home constituency Hinjili and won both the seats. He later vacated the Bijepur seat and retained the Hinjili constituency.

Also on Saturday, BJP said it will announce its candidate on Sunday. “The BJP parliamentary board will announce the name of its party candidate at a meeting in New Delhi tomorrow,” BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty said

Earlier, Congress had named Dilip Kumar Panda as its candidate. He will file his nomination on September 30.