Sambalpur for high-profile contest as BJD pits Naveen Patnaik’s close aide against Dharmendra Pradhan

The Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha is gearing up for a high-profile contest after the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday announced its first list of candidates and fielded its organisational secretary and sitting Jajpur MLA, Pranab Prakash Das against Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP’s pick for the seat.

Party president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released the list, which has candidates for nine of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 72 of the Assembly 147 seats for the upcoming simultaneous polls in the state. The BJD candidates were announced after several rounds of alliance talks with the BJP failed and both decided to go it alone in the polls.

The nomination of Das, who is popularly known as Bobby, from Sambalpur came on expected lines after he was appointed as the district observer in March last year. BJD insiders then had said he was appointed as the party expected the BJP to field Pradhan from the seat.

Bobby is the de facto number two in the BJD and is seen as a close aide of Patnaik’s trusted aide V K Pandian, who has been involved in the party’s organisational works in Sambalpur over the past year.

Even as many see Bobby as an unconventional choice for the seat in western Odisha considering his identity as a prominent coastal face, BJD insiders said fielding him against Pradhan is a “well-thought out” strategy. The seat will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 25.

“Given Bobby’s clout in the party, all cadre will be mobilised for him, especially after the completion of the first two phases. Though the Lok Sabha fight will be a tough one, we do not want to lose out on Assembly seats. The BJP too will focus more on Pradhan, its most prominent face in the state and this will