Senior Cong Leader Sitakant Mohapatra Declines Party Ticket

Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader Sitakant Mohapatra on Monday declined a party ticket from the Barchana Assembly constituency.

Mohapatra attributed his decision to the delay in the announcement of his candidature. “I have very less time in hand to campaign and put across my views to the people of the constituency,” he said.

The Barchana Assembly seat in Jajpur district will go to polls in the fourth phase on April 29.

Mohapatra had won the seat in 2004 on a Congress ticket but had to finish second behind Amar Prasad Satpathy, who had then fought the election as a candidate of the Nationalist Congress Party. In 2014, the Congress had fielded Janmejoy Lenka from the seat. He lost to Satpathy, who fought the election on a BJD ticket.