By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Orissa’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Saturday left three Lok Sabha and 17 assembly seats to its new allies – the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – in the state.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters that his party will leave the Sundergarh Lok Sabha seat for CPI-M, Jagatsinghpur for CPI and Balasore for NCP.
The CPI-M, CPI and NCP will also contest in five, four and eight assembly constituencies respectively. In these places, the BJD will not field any candidate, the chief minister said.
The All India Forward Block has also expressed interest in joining the group and all the parties have planned to launch a joint campaign for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Patnaik said.
Orissa goes to elections April 16 and 23 to elect 147 members to the assembly and 21 members to the Lok Sabha.
The BJD earlier this month following the end of a 11-year-old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Legislators of these three parties had voted for the BJD during a trust vote.