Ahead of polling in Sambalpur on May 25, BJP says, 'Lotus will bloom' in Odisha
May 21, 2024
Sambalpur (Odisha) [India], May 21 : Sambalpur is one of the 21 Parliamentary constituencies in Odisha going to polls on May 25 in the sixth phase and the BJP is confident that the lotus (the party election symbol) will bloom in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats. The seat is currently represented by BJP's Nitesh Ganga Deb
Dharmendra Pradhan, a Union Minister and the BJP candidate is up against three-time MLA Pranab Prakash Das of the BJD and Nagendra Pradhan of Congress.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday addressed a public rally in Sambalpur and took a dig at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik without taking his name.
"...Odisha is a very beautiful place, it has a long coastline, a lot of mineral wealth, and hardworking youth but the only thing missing is a hard-working Chief Minister. Form the BJP government, we will give a hard-working young CM...," Shah said, adding, "This time lotus will bloom in both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha. After 5 phases, Modi ji has crossed 310 seats...You have to make the lotus blossom here by getting more than 75 seats in the assembly elections..."
Earlier in the month, Dharmendra Pradhan said that the "wave of change has picked up pace in Odisha".
The seat was bagged by the BJP in the 2019 general elections. Nitesh Ganga Deb of BJP defeated Nalini Kanta Pradhan of BJD by a margin of 9162 votes. Sarat Pattanayak of Congress obtained 135,969 votes.
In the 2014 general elections, Nagendra Kumar Pradhan of BJD defeated Suresh Pujari of BJP BY 30, 576 votes.
Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha are being held simultaneously in four phases running from May 13 to June 1.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.
In the 2014 general elections, the BJD won 20 seats and the BJP managed to secure one seat. In the 2019 Assembly election, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won 112 out of 146 seats, while Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 23 seats and Congress won 9.
The Lok Sabha elections are being held across seven phases, from April 19 to June 1. The counting is scheduled for June 4.
