Cong To Release Its List For All Assembly Seats In Odisha Soon, Says OPCC President

Bhubaneswar: The Congress will release its list of candidates for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha soon, said OPCC president Sarat Pattanaik.

Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, Patnaik said the Congress will announce its nominees for the dual elections in the state after a meeting with Central leaders in New Delhi.

“As per the direction of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), we are carrying out a survey on the prospective candidates for the elections. Besides, other related works are also in progress. After completion of the task, a list of aspirants for the party ticket will be submitted to the Central leaders who will finalise the candidates for all 147 Assembly seats,” Pattanaik said.

When asked why the Congress has not come out with the list even as BJD and BJP have announced their candidates for some seats in the state for both elections, the OPCC president said the two parties are working in tandem.

“They (BJP and BJD) were ruling the state as coalition partners for 8 years from 2001 to 2009. The BJD has been in power for 24 years in the state. In order to counter the dishonest coalition of the two parties, the Congress is preparing a strategy for the elections. A meeting in this regard is going on in Delhi today,” he said.

On the Congress deserting the party, Pattanaik said it is a normal phenomenon before the elections. “Many leaders leave Congress and others join the party before the polls. There is nothing to be perturbed about it. Our party will perform beyond expectations and predictions of survey groups and expose the unholy nexus of BJD and BJP,” he added.

It may be noted that the ruling BJD has already announced its candidates for 15 Lok Sabha seats and 72 Assembly seats while the BJP has released its list of nominees for 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.