Bhubaneswar : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, former hockey captain Dilip Tirkey and film star Sidhanta Mohapatra figure in the first list of BJD candidates for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Patnaik, also the party president, named the candidates Wednesday for five Lok Sabha and 30 assembly seats. The names of other candidates would be declared soon, he told reporters.
Patnaik would test his luck again from the Hinjili assembly constituency in Ganjam district.
His ministerial colleagues Subrat Tarai, Surya Naranan Patro, Lal Bihari Himirika and Niranjan Pujari would contest from Raghunathpalli, Digapahandi, Rayagada and Sonepur assembly seats respectively.
Tirkey, a BJD member in the Rajya Sabha, has been fielded from Sundergarh Lok Sabha seat. Mohapatra, a member of the outgoing Lok Sabha from Berhampur, has been renominated.
Ladukishore Swain (Aska), Arkakeshari Deo (Kalahandi) and Kalikesh Singhdeo (Balangir) are the other three Lok Sabha candidates.
Polling for the 147-member assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha will be simultaneously held April 10 and 17.