Bhubaneswar: The second phase of elections in Odisha has begun. In this phase, voting will be held for five Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly seats. The voting in this phase will in Balangir, Bargarh, Sundergarh, Kandhamal and Aska parliamentary constituencies in the second phase.
In 2019, BJP captured three of these five parliamentary constituencies. BJP occupied Balangir, Bargarh and Sundargarh. Kandhamal and Aska was won by BJD. In 2024, will the stronghold of BJP be broken? Will BJP win these three seats or will BJD take away some seats? This is being closely watched.
Similarly it is worth mentioning that, out of 35 assembly seats under these five parliamentary constituencies, BJD won 26 seats in 2019, while Congress won four seats, BJP four seats and CPIM one seat.
Out of these five Lok Sabha seats BJP won 60 percent, while in case of the Assembly seats the party could win only 12 percent. BJD however won 40 percent Lok Sabha seats and 73 percent Assembly seats.
The challenge for the BJP this time is to maintain the Lok Sabha results of 2019 and increase the number of Assembly seats. Similarly, BJD’s challenge is to retain the Assembly seats and increase the Lok Sabha seats.
This time Sundargarh, Balangir and Bargarh are being closely monitored by BJD, no stone is being left unturned to win the maximum number of seats here. It is said that Balangir may be a new challenge for BJD Supremo Naveen.
CM Naveen is contesting from Kantbanji as an MLA candidate, focusing on Balangir Lok Sabha seat. However, BJP is trying hard to maintain its stronghold. The heavyweights of all parties are targeting and want to win the Balangir seat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have been to Balangir and campaigned for their respective parties.
Here is the detailed list of candidates:
Bolangir Constituency: Surendra Singh Bhoi from BJD, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo from BJP, Manoj Mishra from Congress.
Bargarh Constituency: Parineeta Mishra from BJD, Pradeep Purohit from BJP, and Sanjay Bhoi from INC.
Sundargarh Constituency: Dilip Tirkey from BJD, Juel Oram from BJP and Janardan Dehury from INC.
Kandhamal Constituency: Achyuta Samanta from BJD, Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi from BJP and Amir Chand Nayak from Congress.
Aska Constituency: Ranjita Sahu from BJD and Anita Subhadarshani from BJP.
Voting time:
Polling in all the above constituencies shall be done from 7 am to 6pm, said reports.
Polling in Odisha:
In the first phase polling was held on May 13.
In the second phase polling will be held on May 20.
In the third phase polling will be held on May 25 in Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituencies.
In the the fourth phase polling will be held on June 1 in Mayurbhanj, Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha constituencies.
However reports further say that, on June 4, the votes will be counted across the country. On the same day, the fate of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha candidates will be declared.