The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has honoured its pledge to field female candidates for 33% of Odisha’s 21 Lok Sabha seats, with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announcing Lekhashree Samantsinghar as the party’s contender for the Balasore parliamentary constituency.
Samantsinghar, a former vice president of the Odisha unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who recently joined the BJD, becomes the seventh woman candidate nominated for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Previously, the BJD had selected female candidates for the Bargarh, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Koraput, and Aska constituencies.
In the 2019 elections, the BJD secured victories in five out of the seven Lok Sabha seats where female candidates were fielded. Overall, the party claimed 12 of the 21 seats, while the BJP won eight and the Congress secured one.
Among the BJD’s 21 candidates, five are defectors from the BJP or the Congress. Notably, Parineeta Mishra (Bargarh), Lekhashree Samantsinghar (Balasore), and Bhrugu Baxipatra (Berhampur) previously belonged to the BJP, whereas Anshuman Mohanty (Kendrapara) and Surendra Singh Bhoi (Bolangir) hailed from the Congress.
The BJD has already announced 117 candidates for the simultaneous assembly elections, yet to unveil contenders for 30 additional assembly seats.
Out of the 117 declared BJD assembly candidates, only 19 are women. This trend mirrors the 2019 assembly elections, where the party nominated 21 female candidates out of 147 seats.
In contrast, only eight of the 112 candidates put forth by the BJD’s main rival, the BJP, are women.
Several of the BJD’s female candidates have familial ties to party leaders. Notably, in Bhawanipatna, Latika Naik, wife of former BJD contestant Dusmanta Naik, secured the nomination. Similarly, Gitanjali Routray, wife of sitting BJD MLA Sambit Routray, was chosen for the Paradip seat.
In Morada, Pritinanda Kanungo, wife of incumbent MLA Rajkishore Das, received the ticket, while Sanghamitra Swain, wife of sitting MLA Purnachandra Swain, was selected for the Surada constituency.
Manjula Swain, nominated for the Aska assembly seat, is the widow of former BJD MP Ladu Kishore Swain. Rita Sahu, contesting the Bijepur assembly seat, is the widow of former Congress MLA Subal Sahu. Tukuni Sahu, BJD’s candidate for the Titlagarh seat, is the widow of slain BJD leader Abhimanyu Sahu.
Alaka Mohanty, contesting the Brajarajnagar assembly seat, is the widow of former Speaker Kishore Mohanty, while Dipali Das, BJD’s nominee for Jharsuguda, is the daughter of former BJD leader Naba Das, who was tragically killed by a policeman in January last year.
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