BJP renominates Ashrit Pattanayak for Pipili Assembly constituency

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Thursday announced the candidature of Ashrit Pattanayak for the by-election to Pipili Assembly constituency in Puri district scheduled on April 17.

The announcement was made after the central election committee of the BJP approved the name of Pattanayak (48) for renomination. Pattanayak is the president of party’s Puri district unit. 

As a BJP nominee in the 2019 election, he had given a tough fight to the BJD but lost in a slender margin of over 15,787 votes from his nearest rival Pradeep Maharathy.

Ashrit had polled 72,731 votes against 88,518 votes of Maharathy.  In 2014 elections, Ashrit contested as an Independent and secured 18,000 votes only. The saffron party nominee Prafulla Prasad Gajendra had secured only 7,656 votes.  

Probe into delay in insurance payment: Patro

Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro on Thursday directed Cooperation Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain to inquire into the delay in release of insurance money for farmers under Pradhan Mantri Bima Yojana in 2019-20 and find a way out. The issue was raised by Santosh Singh Saluja (Congress) during the zero hour.