Aska Lok Sabha constituency comprising seven Assembly segments such as Hinjili, Polasara, Kabisuryanagar, Khallikote, Aska, Surada and Sanakhemundi is counted as one of the prestigious LS seats in Odisha as it was once represented by former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and his son and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. This LS seat was won by BJD’s 70-year old Pramila Bisoyi, a non-political figure, in 2019. Despite doubts, she polled 5,52,749 votes and the BJD’s vote share was 54.52 per cent. However, the seat is expected to witness an interesting battle between the BJD and the BJP in the 2024 elections.
This time, the ruling party has given chance to a new face like Ranjita Sahu while the BJP has repeated its candidate Anita Subhadarhsini, despite her defeat in 2019. Anita had polled 3,48,042 votes with BJP’s vote share recorded at 34.33 per cent. Significantly, the BJP came up the second place in 2019 pushing down the Congress to the third.
Anita, a post graduate in political science with a bachelor’s degree in law, is the daughter of Ramkrushna Patnaik, a veteran leader of erstwhile Janata Dal, BJD and BJP. Patnaik contested as MP on a Congress ticket in 2004, but was defeated by BJD’s Hari Har Swain.
Balasore Lok Sabha constituency is all set to go to polls on June 1 (phase seven). An intense fight among BJD’s Lekhashree Samantasinghara, BJP’s Pratap Sarangi and Congress’ Srikant Jena is expeted.
A college teacher-turned-politician, Lekhashree served as vice president of BJP’s state unit and was known as party’s popular TV face in Odisha. Her another identity was of being vituperative against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and BJD. Denied ticket, she switched over to BJD and the party gave her a ticket for Balasore Lok Sabha seat. With this, she is making her poll debut.
On the other hand, BJP’s nominee Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Congress’ Srikant Jena are seasoned politicians. Pratap Chandra Sarangi is a senior BJP leader and former Nilagiri MLA. The party fielded him as its Lok Sabha candidate for Balasore in 2014. However, he came second and BJD’s Rabindra Kumar Jena won the election. In 2019, the party again fielded Sarangi and this time, he turned the wind in favour of his party and wrested seat from Jena. He went on to become the minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
The seat had been a BJP bastion with its leader Kharavela Swain winning three elections consecutively from 1998 to 2004. However, it went to Congress in 2009 when its candidate Srikant Jena won the election relegating Swain to third position. Srikant went to become a minister in the Manmohan Singh-led government. However, in 2014, BJD’s Rabindra Kumar Jena defeated Jena by a huge margin. Srikant was later expelled from the party for his alleged anti-party activities. His reentry to the party paved his way for contesting the election.
As the three major political parties-the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJd) and the Congress-have already declared their candidates for Bargarh Lok Sabha seat, the political climate has started heating up.
One of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, Bargarh constituency comprises of Bargarh and Jharsuguda districts and consists of seven Legislative Assembly seats. They are Padampur, Bijepur, Attabira, Bhatli, Brajarajnagar and Jharsuguda.
This seat has witnessed the Congress, the BJD and the BJP tasting the victory in 2009, 2014 and 2019 respectively. In 2009, Sanjay Bhoi contested on a Congress ticket won the election with 3,97,289 votes. In 2014, BJD’s candidate Prabhas Kumar Singh won the seat securing 3,82, 890 votes, with BJP’s Subash Chouhan and Congress’ Sanjay Bhoi coming second and third with 3,71,111 and 2,74,311 votes. In 2019, BJP’s Suresh Pujari was voted to power. He polled 5,77,074 votes, with BJD’s Prasanna Acharya and Congress’ Pradeep Kumar Debta coming second and third securing 5,16,229 and 1,08,898 votes respectively. In 2024, while the Congress has repeated its 2009 winning candidate Sanjay Bhoi, the BJP and the BJD have nominated Pradeep Purohit and Parineeta Mishra respectively. Parineeta was announced as the ruling party’s candidate for Bargarh Lok Sabha seat hours after her husband, Sushant Mishra, former BJP’s district unit vice president and a ticket aspirant from Bhatli Assembly seat, joined the BJD.
Bhoi, son of Krupasindhu Bhoi who was a four-time MP from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat and won from Padampur Assembly segment twice, had won the seat in 2009 and finished third in 2014. In 2019, the Congress had fielded Pradeep Kumar Debta who also finished third. This time, it seems the party has fielded Bhoi with an aim to capture Kulta votes as he belongs to that caste.
The BJP has surprised one and all by nominating Pradeep Purohit, former Padampur MLA, instead of sitting MP Suresh Pujari for Bargarh Lok Sabha seat. The party’s loss of four Assembly by-elections under Bargarh Parliamentary seat is said to be the reason for his dropping.
A firebrand farmer leader who became a public figure overnight after launching an anti-mining movement, Purohit was nominated by the BJP as its candidate for by-poll to padampur Assembly seat. However, he was defeated by BJD's Barsha Singh Bariha, daughter of Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha whose death necessitated the by-poll conducted on December 5, 2022
Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha is known as a political powerhouse having significant influence in Odisha and country’s politics. Berhampur continues to remain a crucial constituency of the state since former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was elected from this seat in 1996. Significantly, Berhampur is one of the Assembly segments of Ganjam, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election to this parliamentary seat is expected to be high-octane dual contest between the BJP and the BJD in view of a changed political equation this time. Besides, the continuous poor performance of the Congress and its declining vote share in the last several elections have indicated to close contest between the BJP and BJD, even as the electorate is reportedly waiting with more enthusiasm to show the power of their votes.
For Berhampur Lok Sabha Constituency, the BJP has fielded Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi, once a close confidante of the Chief Minister and, now the sitting MLA of Gopalpur Assembly seat. After he was expelled from the BJD, he has recently joined the BJP. The saffron party has reposed much faith in Panigrahi’s leadership and dropped its previous candidate Bhrugu Baxipatra. Panigrahi is fully sanguine of the BJP victory in Berhampur and in many other LS seats in Odisha.
Panigrahi, who has now been a bitter critic of the BJD and the Chief Minister, has been asserting that the 2024 elections will be a Waterloo for the BJD and the march of the saffron victory will start from Ganjam to New Delhi. He has started his campaign the day after his name was announced as candidate for the Berhmapur seat.
One of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, Bhadrak has been a stronghold of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). This constituency is witnessing a three-corner fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party trying its level best to wrest the seat from the ruling party.
In 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJD’s Arjun Charan Sethi won from Bhadark Lok Sabha seat securing 4,16,606 and 5,01,175 votes respectively. In 2019, the party fielded Manjulata Mandal who polled 5,11,772 votes with BJP’s Avimanyu Sethi coming second with 4,80,874 votes and Congress’ Madhumita Sethi third with 2,07,134 votes.
This time, while both BJP and BJD have repeated their candidate’s of 2019 election, the Congress has fielded Ananta Prasad Sethi, who came second in 2009 election.
The BJP’s pick Avimanyu Sethi is the son of Arjun Charan Sethi. The father-son duo had joined the BJP camp ahead of 2019 after BJD denied ticket to Abhimanyu. Arjun Sethi is an eight-time MP and was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in which BJD was a partner.
The BJD’s pick Manjulata Mandal is the wife of Dhamnagar’s former MLA Muktikanta Mandal.
Since all the leaders aren’t new to politics and have their own Organizations, a high-octane fight is in the offing.
As many as seven Assembly constituencies like Soro, Simulia, Bhandaripokhari, Bhadrak, Basudebpur, Dhamnagar and Chandbali are coming under Bhadrak Parliamentary constitution.
After witnessing a fight between former IAS and IPS officer in 2019 elections, the stage is all set in 2024 to witness a more intense battle for the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat. The BJP has re-nominated the former IAS officer Aparajita Sarangi who had defeated BJD’s leader and former IPS officer Arup Patnaik in the last polls. Sarangi had won by a margin of over 20000 votes. This time, the BJD has nominated Congress MLA Sura Routray’s son Manmath for the Bhubaneswar Parliamentary segment. The Congress has nominated young leader- Yasir Nawaz for the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha segment.
Backed by 11 years of service, Aparajita Sarangi took electoral plunge in 2018. During her instinct as a bureaucrat, Sarangi was quite hardworking and also served as commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). Aparajita was an IAS officer of 1994 batch of Odisha cadre.
Bolangir Lok Sabha seat comprising seven Assembly segments such as Birmaharajpur, Sonepur, Losisingha, Patnagarh, Bolangir, Titilagarh and Kantabanji is most likely to see be a tough fight between the BJP and BJD, though the Congress is in the fray. Earlier, previous poll battles used to be confined to two members of the Bolangir royal family. However, the fight is most likely to be a different one since the BJD has not given chance to any scion of the royal family this time. It has rather fielded a tribal leader this time. The polling in this seat will be held on May 20
This time, the BJP has repeated its veteran leader and incumbent three-time MP Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, the wife of BJP stalwart and former Patnanagarh MLA KV Singh Deo, in this seat while the BJD has not repeated its previous candidate Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo even though he had won the seat in 2009 and 2014.
In the run up to the crucial 2024 elections, Odisha has witnessed a series of drama, with several leaders from BJP, BJD and Congress switching camps, either after being denied tickets or due to other reasons. Out of the total 21 Lok Sabha seats, Cuttack seat holds much significance. The battle for Cuttack Lok Sabha segment is also interesting with one of the BJD’s founding members, Bhartruhari Mahtab, snapping ties and joining BJP and being roped in by the saffron party as its candidate for the prestigious seat. The BJD, on the other hand, has fielded Santrupt Misra. He will be testing electoral politics for the first time after resigning as HR head of Aditya Birla Group.
A founding member of BJD, Bhartruhari Mahtab is a six-time MP from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat. In the last elections, Mahtab had defeated BJP’s Prakash Mishra with a significant margin. However, Mahtab changed sides for the 2024 battle after his terms with BJD got entangled in controversies after the seasoned leader was apparently felt being sidelined. Mahtab is the son of former Odisha Chief Minister Harekrushna Mahtab. Bhartruhari was even BJD’s floor leader between 2014 to 2019. He was also awarded with the prestigious ‘Sansad Ratna’ four times for his performance in Parliamentary debates.
Dhenkanal, one of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha, has been a stronghold of the Biju Janata Dal, having never lost an election since 2004. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJD’s Mahesh Sahoo won, defeating BJP’s nominee Rudra Narayan Pani, with the former securing 5,22,884 and the latter 4,87,472 votes. Congress’s Kamakshya Prasad Singh Deo came a distant third with 80,349 votes. In the previous three elections, BJD’s Tathagata Satpathy had come victorious from here.
Political analysts observe that this Lok Sabha elections won’t be a cake walk for the ruling conch party. If they are to be believed, a fierce competition is likely to be witnessed here. While BJP has repeated its candidate Pani, BJD and Congress have fielded new faces, Abinash Samal and Sasmita Behera respectively. Though a political greenhorn, Samal has come from a popular political family. His uncle Sudhir Samal is the incumbent MLA of Dhenkanal Assembly constituency. Congress’s pick Sasmita Behera is former state Mahila Congress president and present national secretary of Mahila Congress. Last time Congress won from this seat was in 1999 when it’s nominee Kamakshya Prasad Singh Deo defeated BJD’S Tathagata Satpathy by 3,674 votes.
Seven Assembly constituencies are coming under Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat. They are Dhenkanal, Parjang, Kamakhyanagar, Hindol, Angul, Talcher and Pallahara.
Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha constituency comprises Assembly seats Niali, Paradeep, Tirtol, Balukuda-Erasama, Jagatsighpur, Kakatpur and Nimapara. Jagatsinghpur is said to be a fort of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as all the Assembly seats are currently represented by BJD legislators. The seat is going to witness an intense fight between the BJP and the BJD in the 2024 election like the previous election as the both the parties have repeated same candidates this time.
The BJP has again fielded its candidate Bibhu Prasad Tarai even though he faced debacle from BJD’s Rajashree Mallick in the fiercely contested 2019 elections. Bibhu Tarai has contested from this seat on the tickets of three different parties in the past. Tarai had contested on a Congress ticket in 2014 and polled 3,48,098 votes (28.32% votes share), but lost to BJD’s Kulamani Samal who got 6,24,492 votes (a victory margin of 2,76,394 and 50.81% vote share). However, Tarai had tasted electoral success in the seat in 2009 when he contested on a CPI ticket backed by the BJD securing 4,57,234 votes (victory margin of 76,735 and 37.2% vote share).
Jajpur Lok Sabha constituency comprising seven Assembly segments such as Binjharpur (SC), Bari, Barachana, Dharmasala, Jajpur, Korei and Sukinda is currently represented by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The LS seat is expected to see a tough fight between the BJP and BJD, even as the ruling party has sitting MLAs in all the seven Assembly segments. Though the BJP's vote share is said to be increasing in the seat, the party has never tasted electoral success in the seat.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has changed its previous candidate with a new face like Rabindra Narayan Behera who took voluntary retirement as director of National Informatics Centre (NIC) four years ago and plunged into politics.
Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha consists of Assembly segments such as Lanjigarh (ST), Junagarh, Dharmagarh, Bhawanipatna (SC), and Narla. In 2019, the seat had seen a triangular contest between BJPs Basant Kumar Panda, Congress candidate Bhakta Charan Das and Biju Janata Dal (BJD)s Pushpendra Singh Deo. BJP leader Basant Panda won the seat by trouncing his nearest rival BJD Puspendra Singhdeo.
Interestingly, the major parties have not repeated their candidates. This time, the BJP did not repeat Basant Panda and rather gave ticket to a new face and a woman candidate, Malavika Keshari Singh Deo. She is the wife of former BJD MP Arka Keshari Deo (2014).
The BJD has given a ticket to Lambodar Nial instead of its previous candidate Pushpendra Singhdeo while Congress has fielded Draupadi Majhi instead of its previous candidate Bhakta Charan Das. Lamodar is contesting Lok Sabha for the first time. He had earlier contest from Khariar Asembly seat twice, but lost the polls. He was defeated by Congress’ candidate Adhiraj Panigrahi in 2019. Interestingly, Adhiraj has joined the BJD.
The BJD had lost this Lok Sabha seat in 2019 to the BJP by a vote margin of over 26,000. As per reports, since 2004, no parties have won the seat twice consecutively. The electorate has always changed the parties.
Odisha’s Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat is bracing up for an intense fight with Achyutananda Samanta (better known as Achyuta Samanta) of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Amirchand Nayak of Congress being in the fray, vying for the seat. One of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, Kandhamal has been a BJD fortress since its formation after the delimitation in 2008. In 2009, 2014 and 2019 general elections, BJD’S Rudramadhav Ray, Hemendra Chandra Singh and Achyuta Samanta won from this seat.
This year the conch party has repeated Samanta. And the Congress and the BJP have fielded Amirchand Nayak and Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi against Samanta. While Nayak is an ex-GST commissioner, Panigrahi is a BJP leader who fought unsuccessfully against BJD’s Hemendra Chandra Singh in 2014. In 2019, while Samanta polled 4,61,679 votes, BJP’s Mahameghabahan Aira Kharavel Swain and Congress’s Manoj Kumar Acharya secured 3,12,463 and 1,38,493 votes respectively.
While Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat encompasses four districts like Kandhamal, Boudh, Ganjam and Nayagarh, the Assembly constituencies coming under it are Baliguda, G Udayagiri, Phulbani, Kantamal, Boudh, Dasapalla and Bhanjanagar.
It is going to be an intense battle between BJP and BJD for the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat. With its mission to win over 400 Lok Sabha seats in the country, the BJP has roped in its heavy weight leader and party’s National Vice-president and former MP Baijayant Panda as its candidate for the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat. While the BJD has fielded Anshuman Mohanty as its candidate for the Lok Sabha seat, the Congress has roped in Siddhartha Swarup Das. The former MLA from Rajnagar, Anshuman had quit Congress and joined the BJD ahead of the 2024 elections.
Currently, BJP’s national vice-president, Baijayant Panda was a Member of Parliament in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha from Kendrapara. Panda was also a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha for two terms from 2000 to 2009. As Kendrapara MP, Baijayant Panda has done remarkable job as far as ensuring drinking water to people of the constituency is concerned. Panda also stood with the people of his constituency in tough times. Be it floods or any other disaster, Panda ensured that he was on the ground zero with the people. Apart from this, Panda was also instrumental in rescuing people from Odisha stranded in several other countries.
One of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha, Keonjhar has been a citadel of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) since the party has been winning from this seat since 2009. While Yashbant Narayan Singh Laguri and Sakuntala Laguri were the winners from this seat in 2009 and 2014 respectively, Chandrani Murmu came out victorious in 2019. However, the party didn’t count on any of its previous winners and has fielded Dhanurjay Siddhu, who in 2004, was elected from Champua Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket. Before joining BJD ahead of Panchayat Polls in 2022, he unsuccessfully contested from Champua and Telkoi Assembly seats in 2009 and 2014 on Congress ticket and from Telkoi on a BJP ticket in 2019.
The BJP has pitted one of its old war horses, Ananta Nayak against Sidhu and Congress’s Binod Bihari Nayak. Ananta Nayak is a known face in Keonjhar as he was earlier elected to Lok Sabha twice in 1999 and 2004. He came second in 2019. Congress’s pick Binod Bihari Nayak is confident of sailing through the elections as he says he has the blessings of people. Like past years, the fight for Lok Sabha seat in Keonjhar is likely to be a two-corner one, between the BJP and the BJD.
The BJP is on the act to open its account through Kaliram Majhi, a highly educated youth from Kashipur region of Rayagada district. He has been dedicatedly working for his party since 2008 and the party has reposed faith in his leadership.
Mayurbhanj is the largest district in Odisha. One of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, this Lok Sabha seat has witnessed fluctuating political allegiance. In 2019, BJP’s Bishweswar Tudu polled 4,83,812 votes and BJD’s Dr Debashis Marndi finished second with 4,58,556 votes. JMM’s Anjani Soren polled 1,35,552 votes. In 2014, BJD’s Rama Chandra Hansdah polled 3,93,779 votes, BJP’s Nepole Raghu Murmu polled 2,70,913 and JMM’s Debashis Marndi came third with 1,72,984 votes. Congress’s Shyam Shundar Hansdah came fourth with 1,42,165 votes.
This time, while BJD has fielded its Bangirposi MLA Sudam Marndi from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat, the BJP fielded Naba Charan Majhi, the party’s first-time MLA of Rairangpur Assembly constituency. BJD’s choice Marndi is a five-time MLA and has been elected once to the Lok Sabha. On the other hand, BJP’s decision surprised one and all as Majhi has replaced Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu.
While the Congress has not nominated any candidate for the Lok Sabha seat (it had also not fielded any candidate in 2019 election and supported Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) candidate), the JMM has nominated its trusted candidate Anjani Soren, daughter of JMM’s founder Shibu Soren and sister of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Anjani, who is the President of Odisha’s JMM unit, has been involved in party activities to expand it in Odisha’s northern part. With this, the constituency is going to witness a fierce fight between the ruling BJD, BJP and JMM.
The Mayurbhanj Parliamentary constitution is made up of seven Assembly constituencies like Jashipur, Saraskana, Rairangpur, Bangriposi, Udala, Baripada and Morada.
The upcoming 2024 election is expected to be a tough triangular contest among three tribal heavyweights of the BJP, the BJD and Congress in the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha (ST) seat comprising seven Assembly seats such as Umerkote, Jharigaon, Nabarangpur, Dabugan, Kotpad, Malkangiri and Chitrakonda. Election to this seat will be held on May 13. Given the electoral history, the three parties have seen a rollercoaster of success and failure in this Lok Sabha seat where tribal votes play crucial in deciding the political fortunes of the leaders.
The seat had seen a tough contest among the three parties in the 2019 election. BJD had fielded its three-time MLA Ramesh Chandra Majhi (twice from Dabugan and once from Jharigan Assembly seat) as its MP nominee in this seat. He had polled 3,92,504 votes and trounced his nearest rival Congress’ Pradeep Majhi by a victory margin of 41,623. Pradeep had polled over 3.5 lakh votes while the BJP candidate Balabhadra Majhi, who has been repeated this time too by the BJP, slipped to the third position with 3,42839 votes.
However, in the 2019 election, the vote percentage of both the BJD and the Congress had slipped, but the BJP’s vote share in the seat had increased by nearly 16 percent, even though Balabhadra lost the poll.
This time, the BJD has dropped its incumbent MP Ramesh Chandra Majhi despite his previous win and fielded Pradeep Majhi in his place. Pradeep, once a prominent tribal leader of Congress in south Odisha, who was elected as MP on a Congress ticket in 2009 by beating BJD’s Domboru Majhi by polling 3,08,307 votes, crossed over to the ruling party in 2021.
This time, the Congress has fielded its veteran leader and two-time MLA from Dabugan Bhujabal Majhi as its MP nominee in this seat. He was elected legislator from this seat in 2009 and 2014, though he lost the election in 2019. Interestingly, the party has given ticket to her daughter Lipika Majhi, who is a doctor by profession from Dabugan Assembly seat.
Among the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, all eyes will be on Puri seat which is likely to witness a triangular fight between BJD’s Arup Patnaik, BJP’s Sambit Patra and Congress’ Jay Narayan Patnaik. Earlier, Congress had announced the name of Sucharita Mohanty as its candidate. However, Mohanty had returned ticket alleging dearth of party funding. Congress then clarified that Mohanty came up with such statements after coming to know that a new candidate will be fielded in her place. However, many believe that there will be direct contest between BJP’s Sambit Patra and BJD candidate Arup Patnaik. The BJP has re-nominated Patra who had earlier lost to BJD’s Pinaki Mishra in 2019.
Sambit Patra practiced medicine and became a popular face of BJP on TV. He was subsequently promoted as national spokesperson of BJP. It was in 2019 that Patra made his electoral debut in Odisha. He was roped in by BJP from Puri where he lost the battle to BJD’s Pinaki Mishra in the 2019 elections.
In the political sphere, Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat is better known as the epicenter of Western Odisha. The electoral battle for this seat is going to be a high-profile and high-octane with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Dharmendra Pradhan, Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) Pranab Prakash Das and Congress’ Nagendra Pradhan crossing swords to capture the seat. The upcoming poll is going to be an acid test for Pradhan, who is returning to electoral politics after a 15-year hiatus. A minister in the cabinet of Narendra Modi, Pradhan was elected from Pallahara constituency in 2000 and in 2004, he was elected to Lok Sabha from Deogarh seat. He lasts unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from the Pallahara seat in 2009. In 2012 and 2018, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh respectively.
The BJD’s pick up Pranab Prakash Das, who is known as Bobby Das, is a three-time MLA from Jajpur seat. Pranab is the son of late Ashok Das, a popular Janata Dal leader. Junior Das is known for his organizational skill. While Das is viewed as an outsider because he hails from Jajpur district, Pradhan is considered as a man of soil. Both the parties have fielded their warring horses, making the fight a high-octane one. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Nitesh Ganga Deb won the seat by polling 4,71,382 votes, followed by BJD’s Nalini Kanta Pradhan (4,64,063 votes) and Congress’ Sarat Pattanayak (1,35,672 votes).
Stakes will be high for the Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat which will witness a high-voltage triangular battle between BJP’s seasoned politician Jual Oram, BJD’s Dilip Tirkey and Congress candidate Janardan Dehury in the 2024 elections. Oram has already announced that 2024 will be his last elections and he will certainly try to win the Lok Sabha seat for the BJP which has set a target to win over 400 Lok Sabha seats in the country. However, it will not be a cakewalk for Oram as the ruling BJD has roped in Hockey India president Dillip Tirkey who is also quite popular among the masses. However, Jual Oram had defeated Tirkey in the 2014 elections. Oram had won the seat with a margin of 18,000 plus votes.
Born on March 22, 1961, Jual Oram is a five-time Lok Sabha MP from Odisha. Coming from a humble tribal family, Oram was first elected to Lok Sabha from Sundargarh constituency in 1998 and was re-elected the next year as well. Oram was the first minister of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs set up by the then Prime Minister Ataj Bihari Vajpayee.
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