Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, six Lok Sabha seats are slated for polls in the sixth phase of elections tomorrow (May 25). These constituencies include, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack.
Among these six seats, the BJD had secured Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Puri, and Cuttack, while the BJP won Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar in the 2019 elections.
Polling details
A total of 64 candidates are contesting in these six Lok Sabha seats. While it is the third round of polls in this eastern state, nationally it is the sixth phase.
A total of 9,448,553 voters are eligible, comprising 4,829,660 men, 4,617,602 women, and 1,291 transgender individuals. These voters will be casting their ballots in 10,581 polling booths across the state.
Prominent leaders in the fray
The direct fight in the state Lok Sabha seats is between the BJP and BJD. Notable contenders include Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and four Odisha ministers - Prafulla Mallick, R P Swain, Ashok Panda, and Basanti Hembram.
Pradhan is contesting for the BJP in the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat against BJD's Pranab Prakash Das. He is replacing incumbent BJP MP Nitesh Ganga Deb. He had lost the 2009 election and later went to Rajya Sabha from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
In Puri, BJP's Sambit Patra is facing off against BJD’s Arup Patnaik, a former Mumbai police commissioner. Last time he lost the election against BJD’s Pinaki Mishra with a narrow margin.
Cuttack sees a notable contest between BJP’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, a longtime incumbent, and BJD’s Santrupt Mishra, a former corporate leader. Mahtab has been a BJD MP but switched sides recently. He has been an incumbent MP since 1998.
(With PTI Inputs)
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