Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal ( BJD ) retained only one of its eight sitting MPs in its first list of nine candidates for Lok Sabha seats voting in the first two phases on April 11 and April 18. The list was released on Monday.The BJD had won eight of these nine parliamentary seats in 2014. The BJP had won one — Sundargarh, now represented by Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram. Of the eight incumbent BJD MPs, the regional party has retained only Kalikesh Singh Deo from Balangir, a seat he had won in 2009 and 2014.“I am thankful to the chief minister for reposing faith in me and giving me a ticket,” said Kalikesh, a scion of the former royal family of Balangir.While Ladu Kishore Swain, who represented Aska in the outgoing Lok Sabha, died last month, the remaining six MPs have been dropped. They are Jhina Hikaka (Koraput), Balabhadra Majhi (Nabarangpur, defected to BJP), Arka Keshari Deo (Kalahandi), Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh (Kandhamal), Siddhant Mohapatra( Berhampur ) and Pravas Singh (Bargarh).Going by his promise of fielding at least seven women in the 21 Lok Sabha seats, Naveen has announced three women’s names in the nine-member list. All three will contest polls for the first time. They are Pramila Bisoi, member of a self-help group, Kaushalya Hikaka, a school teacher, and Sunita Biswal, daughter of former chief minister Hemanand Biswal.Pramila will contest from the Aska Lok Sabha seat. Known to create awareness among women on the need to use toilets and opt for institutional delivery and vaccination, she has a monthly income of Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. She also works for the protection of forests and the environment. “Being fielded as an MP candidate is a tremendous honour for me,” she said.Kaushalya is BJD’s nominee from Koraput and she replaces her husband Hikaka. Sunita, who recently joined BJD, will fight from the Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat. The BJD had fielded former hockey captain Dilip Tirkey from the segment in 2014.The party has fielded founder-member Prasanna Acharya , who is also a Rajya Sabha member, from Bargarh. Acharya has been elected to the Lok Sabha and the assembly three times each.Achyuta Samanta, founder of the KIIT and KISS group of institutions, will contest from the tribal-dominated Kandhamal, which made news for riots against Christians in the 2000s. Samanta, who was sent to the Rajya Sabha by BJD in 2018, has a strong following among tribals because of KISS, which offers free education and accommodation to more than 20,000 tribal students.Ramesh Chandra Majhi, currently ST and SC development minister in Naveen’s cabinet, was named for Nabarangpur. Puspendra Singh Deo, a former state minister, will fight from Kalahandi. Chandra Sekhar Sahu, former Union minister who had quit Congress last year and joined BJD, has been fielded from Berhampur.Odisha will vote for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in four phases.

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