Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik files nomination from Hinjili Assembly seat
The Hindu
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik filed the nomination papers from Hinjili Assembly constituency in his home district of Ganjam for the sixth consecutive time.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on April 30 filed the nomination papers from Hinjili Assembly constituency in his home district of Ganjam for the sixth consecutive time.
Mr. Patnaik, who is set to become the longest serving Chief Minister of India if his party wins this Assembly election, was flanked by his close aide V. K. Pandian and senior Minister Bikram Arukha.
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While the Biju Janata Dal supremo submitted the nomination papers, all seven candidates of the Assembly constituency coming under Aska Lok Sabha seat, including Mr. Patnaik, were present on the occasion. Before submitting nomination papers in the office of the returning officer, Mr. Patnaik visited Tara Tarini Temple, the famous shrine in Ganjam district.
Mr. Patnaik has been winning Hinjili Assembly seat consecutively since 2000. The margin of his victory from the seat was 60,160 votes in the 2019 election. Prior to that, the margin had consistently gone up from 29,826 votes in 2000, to 42,642 and 61,773 in the 2004 and 2019 elections respectively. His highest winning margin was 76,586 in 2014.
This time, he is also contesting from Kantabanji Assembly seat in Balangir district of western Odisha. Mr. Patnaik is likely to file his nomination for Kantabanji on May 2. In 2019, he had chosen to fight from a second seat — Bijepur in Bargarh district.
BJD organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das also submitted papers for his nomination from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. He is pitted against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. This is the maiden Lok Sabha election for Mr. Das, whose post in the regional party is considered to be the most powerful after the president.