Cong Names Pranaya Sahu As Nominee For Bijepur Bypoll

Bhubaneswar: Putting speculation at rest, the Congress on Sunday declared Pranaya Sahu as its candidate for the February 25 bypoll to Bijepur assembly constituency in Odisha.

A party release said All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi approved the candidature of Sahu after a six-member selection committee of the party, comprising senior state leaders, had recommended his name alongside that of former MLA Ripunath Seth.

Party sources said Sahu got the nod as he is believed to have a good support base in Gaisilat, one of the three blocks forming Bijepur constituency, where bypoll was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Subala Sahu.|

It may be recalled that the AICC on January 27 had formed a six-member committee for the selection of party candidate for the Bijepur by-poll after senior leaders of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Chiranjibi Biswal, Naba Das and Jagannath Patnaik had a meeting with Congress President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.

Later the selection committee led by former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal had gone to Bijepur and recommended the name of Pranaya Sahu and Ripunath Seth to AICC after consulting with the local leaders.

Sahu would take on BJD’s Rita Sahoo and BJP’s Ashok Panigrahi. Rita is the widow of Subala and joined BJD in November, 2017, apparently to benefit from the ruling party’s well-oiled poll machinery. Similarly, Panigrahi, a former BJD legislator, joined BJP ahead of the byelection.

While Panigrahi filed his nomination papers on Friday, Rita will be doing it on Monday. Congress sources said Sahu might do it on Tuesday, the last date for entering the poll fray.