Niranjan to contest from Ghasipura

KEONJHAR: State Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik will contest the forthcoming Assembly elections from Ghasipura seat while former PCC president Jaydev Jena’s name has been finalised for Anandpur seat.
The screening committee of OPCC and the AICC observer have recommended the names of Niranjan and Jena to the party high command, district president Mohan Parida confirmed. Niranjan was defeated by School and Mass Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra from Ghasipura seat in the 2009 Assembly polls. He had not contested from the constituency in 2014. Before the re-organisation of Ghasipura Assembly segment, the PCC chief had won four times from Ramachandrapur and defeated his old rival Patra in 1995 and 2004. Patra had also defeated Niranjan in 2000.

Niranjan had  won from the erstwhile Ramachandrapur seat four times in 1980,1985, 1995 and 2004 and was a minister in JB Patnaik and Giridhar Gomango governments. Similarly, Patra, a professor-turned-politician was elected from Ramachandrapur and Ghasipura Assembly seat in 1990, 2000, 2009 and 2014. Patra won the election in 2000 as an independent from Ramachandrapur as the seat had gone to BJP, the then alliance partner of BJD.