Bhubaneswar: After Congress, the ruling BJD in Odisha has released its list of 40 star campaigners for Jharsuguda byelection.
According to the list, released by the BJD on Thursday, chief minister Naveen Patnaik will lead the star campaigners. The ruling party has packed the list with ministers, former ministers and MLAs.
The ministers include Pratap Keshari Deb, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Niranjan Pujari, Ashok Chandra Panda, Tukuni Sahu and Rita Sahu. Among the former ministers, the names of Sarada Prasad Nayak, Susanta Singh, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Pratap Jena, Puspendra Singh Deo and Dibya Sankar Mishra have found place in the list.
Similarly, MLAs Prasanta Muduli, Alaka Mohanty, Pranab Balabantray, Byomakesh Ray, Bikram Panda, Debesh Acharya, Prasanta Behera, Devi Ranjan Tripathy and Rudra Pratap Maharathy will hit the ground for campaigning.
Among the prominent leaders of the party are Pranab Prakash Das, Prasanna Acharya and Debi Prasad Mishra.
As a glamour quotient, the BJD has roped in Ollywood actor Arindam Roy while party spokesperson Srimayee Sweta Snigdha Mishra has also found place in the list.
Earlier, the Congress released its list of star campaigners including firebrand youth leader Kanhaiya Kumar. The grandold party has fielded Tarun Pandey, the son of late MLA Biren Pandey, as its candidate for the by-election.
The BJD has nominated Deepali Das, daughter of slain minister Naba Kishore Das, whose alleged murder on January 29 necessitated the bypoll. The BJP has fielded Tankadhar Tripathy.
The byelection is scheduled to be held on May 10.
