Navajyoti emerges frontrunner for Congress ticket from Balasore

BHUBANESWAR: Navajyoti Patnaik, son of president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik has emerged as the frontrunner for Congress ticket for by-poll to Balasore Assembly constituency.

Congress MLA from Jeypore Taraprasad Bahinipati, in-charge of the by-poll to Balasore constituency, said some sarpanchs and district leaders have proposed the name of Navajyoti as Congress candidate for the by-poll. Bahinipati said he will discuss the issue with the OPCC president.

He, however, said Congress will give a good fight to BJD and BJP if Navajyoti will be made the candidate. Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray also supported Bahinipati. By-poll to the Balasore Assembly constituency has been necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutta.

The BJP candidate had defeated BJD’s Jiban Pradip Das in the 2019 Assembly elections in which Congress candidate  Manas Ranjan Das Pattnaik was relegated to the third position.