Bhubaneswar: As the dates for general polls draw nearer, political parties scrambled to announce their candidates list on Monday. While ruling BJD said it would release first list of candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections by March 13, CPI (M) named its candidates for two Lok Sabha and 12 Assembly seats in the state.
"Our first list comprising names of candidates for ten Lok Sabha constituencies and 70 Assembly segments will be released by May 13," BJD vice-president Kalpataru Das told reporters after a meeting held at Naveen Niwas here.
Das said the party would announce the names of all candidates for 21 parliamentary constituencies and 147 Assembly segments by March 16.
Similarly, Congress, which has released its first list of nine candidates for Lok Sabha seats, was holding talks with party leaders for finalisation of its list for Assembly seats.
"This is just a preliminary discussion on candidate list for Odisha Assembly polls," said Oscar Fernandes, chief of Congress Screening Committee after a meeting with party leaders in New Delhi.
BJP state chief KV Singhdeo hinted in a day or two rest of the names of candidates will be announced for the forthcoming polls. Notably, the national party has already announced its second list of candidates, including five Lok Sabha and 57 Assembly seats.
"We have sent the list to the party's central leaders. Chances of win is the sole criteria for selection of candidates," Singhdeo added.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) said it was going to fight the coming elections in Odisha alone on Monday.
"In the 2009 elections, the CPI-M had seat adjustment with the BJD. This time, they did not invite us for seat arrangement. Therefore, we will go alone in the state," Odisha CPI(M) secretary Janardan Pati said.
Announcing the names of candidates at the party's head office here, Pati said of the 12 Assembly seats, the names of two candidates for Satyabadi constituency in Puri district and Paralakhemundi constituency in Gajapati district would be announced later.
He added the party decided to field veteran communist leader Ali Kishore Patnaik from Berhampur. The name of the candidate for the Balasore Lok Sabha seat will be announced after getting nod of the central leadership.