Odisha Elections 2024: Congress Changes Candidates In 5 Assembly Seats; Names Nilgiri Nominee

Bhubaneswar: Congress on Sunday announced its candidate for Nilgiri Assembly seat and changed party nominees for five other Assembly constituencies for the upcoming elections in Odisha.

The party has nominated Akshaya Acharya to contest as its candidate from Nilgiri assembly constituency in Balasore district, according to a press release issued by the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

This apart, the grand old party changed its candidates for Jalwswar, Bari, Athamallik, Athagarh and Puri Assembly seats.

As per the AICC release, the party has now fielded former Minister Debasis Nayak, who joined Congress on Friday, from Bari Assembly seat. Nayak had joined BJP after quitting BJD. After being denied a ticket, the four-time MLA resigned from BJP and joined Congress.

The grand old party has replaced Debi Prasanna Chand with Sudarshan Das in Jaleswar.

Similarly, Congress has picked Himanshu Chaulia in place of Bijayananda Chaulia from Athamalik.

Likewhse, Sudarshan Sahoo was chosen for Athagarh assembly seat in place of Maheboob Ahemad Khan. Uma Ballav Rath was given a ticket to contest from Puri Assembly segment in place of Sujit Mohapatra.

Notably, Congress on Saturday named Jay Narayan Patnaik as its candidate for Puri Lok Sabha seat after Sucharita Mohanty pulled out of the race citing fund crunch.