The BJP finds it tough to get suitable candidates for Odisha’s three Lok Sabha seats — Cuttack, Kandhamal and Jajpur.
The seats are considered the stronghold of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Though the BJP has announced candidates for 18 Lok Sabha seats, it is yet to announce candidates for these three seats. In 2019, the BJP had won eight out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Sources said the party is waiting for a few turncoats from the BJD to join it before taking a final call about these seats. “We are waiting for a few prominent people to join our party. Once they join, taking a decision will become easy for the leadership. We need to wait for another few days,” said a senior BJP leader.
“The Modi wave is there in Odisha. We need people who can translate this favourable mood into votes. We had a bitter experience in the 2019 general elections. Our leaders had failed to translate the goodwill for Modi into votes. We don’t want to take such risks any more. The leadership is in search of people who have their own organisational networks in these constituencies,” said a senior leader.
Sources said the six-time BJD MP from Cuttack, Bhartruhari Mahtab, who resigned from the party on Friday, is likely to join the BJP soon. Sources said after he joins the party, the party would take a decision to whom it would field from the Cuttack seat.
Though the party during the last election improved its vote tally in Kandhamal, it still wants someone who can have a winning perspective. Backchannel efforts are on to rope in a stalwart from the BJD who could be fielded as a candidate from Kandhamal.
Similarly, the party also finds it tough to get candidate for Jajpur. The BJP’s Amiyakanta Mallick who had contested last time, declined to contest for Lok Sabha.
