BJP candidates against Naveen Patnaik in Hinjili and Bijepur constituency

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named party’s state vice-president Pitambar Acharya as its candidate against ruling BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is seeking re-election from Hinjili assembly seat in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

The BJP also named Sanat Gadtia as the party’s candidate from Bijepur Assembly constituency. Gadtia will now take on BJD chief Naveen Patnaik who is also contesting from Hinjili Assembly seat.

This will be the first time that Pitambar Acharya will fight the assembly polls though he has been in politics since his student days and was the president of the students union in Bhubhaneswar’s BJB College in the 90s.

Mr Acharya, a senior advocate of Orissa High Court, is also the BJP’s spokesman. He was assigned the responsibility of the party’s vice-president two days ago.

Gadtia had quit the BJD and joined BJP last year after Rita Sahu (Bijepur MLA) joined the BJD ahead of the by-poll in the constituency following the death of her husband and then sitting legislator of the constituency Subal Sahu. Sahu had been a three-time MLA from the seat on Congress ticket.

WATCH: Ananya Sritam Nanda in Rising Star season 3 live auditions round