Rourkela: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to release its second list of MLA candidates for Odisha on Thursday.
“We can expect a list of candidates for around 20-22 Assembly seats by today. Nominees for the remaining 10-15 seats will be announced by April 20,” BJP election in-charge for Odisha Vijay Pal Singh Tomar told reporters in Rourkela.
The BJP has already declared candidates for 112 Assembly constituencies and all 21 Lok Sabha seats.
On Wednesday, Tomar had mentioned about the likely change of candidate in one Assembly seat due to some technical error as the constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribe category. He had further asserted that the saffron party form a double-engine government in Odisha with a clear majority and also put up an impressive show in the Lok Sabha seats.
The BJP has announced the Chaitanya Hantal, belonging to Scheduled Caste category for Pottangi assembly constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribe category. Hence, they would go for a new candidate.
Furthermore, the BJP office here has of late been witnessing protests by aspirants, who have been denied tickets. Hence there is a possibility that the party might review its candidates in a few assembly segments.
Speculation is also rife that the party might field Dilip Ray from Rourkela Assembly segment since he had succeeding in getting a stay on his conviction in a coal scam case and getting permission to fight the elections. Soon after arriving here on Wednesday, the former Rourkela legislator told reporters that he is still a member of BJP as his resignation in 2018 was not accepted by the party. “The party will decide my candidature within a day or two. People of Rourkela are also well prepared for the elections,” he said.
