The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday announced candidates for nine assembly constituencies and the remaining lone Lok Sabha seat.
The party has fielded Lekhashree Samantsinghar, a former vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who joined the BJD four days ago, from the Balasore Lok Sabha seat. By selecting Ms. Samantsinghar, the party has stuck to its policy of giving 33% of seats to women candidates. It has now named candidates for all 21 Lok Sabha seats. Earlier, the BJD had fielded women candidates from Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Bargarh, Koraput and Aska.
Ms. Samantsinghar’s nomination has sparked speculation regarding the regional party’s approach to the Lok Sabha polls. Observers expressed apprehensions that she does not have enough time to get along with the BJD local leadership and workers with barely little over a month left for the election. Her new assignment appears difficult as she had spent a decade advocating for the BJP and articulating the saffron party’s perspective vigorously as a spokesperson.
