Bhubaneswar, April 2: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) disclosed its selections for 112 out of 147 Assembly seats in Odisha on Tuesday. 

Notable names in the list include Manmohan Samal, the state BJP president (Chandbali); Jayanarayan Mishra, the Leader of Opposition (Sambalpur); Pradipta Naik, Former Leader of Opposition (Bhawanipatna); and K V Singhdeo, former state BJP president (Patnagarh). Most sitting MLAs have been renominated, with the exception of Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, who has been replaced by his niece Upasana in Brahmagiri.

Suresh Pujari, Bargarh MP, who was denied a Lok Sabha ticket, will now contest from Brajarajnagar. However, other dropped MPs like Nitesh Gangadev, Basanta Panda, and Union Minister Bisheswar Tudu are not featured in the first Assembly list. Abhinandan Kumar Panda, son of Basanta Panda, has been nominated from Nuapada. Additionally, the BJP has introduced young leaders such as Tejeswar Parida from Patkura, Irasis Acharya from Bhatli, and Tankadhar Tripathi from Jharsuguda.

Former film stars Akash Dasnayak and Siddhant Mohapatra, who recently joined BJP after leaving BJD, are set to contest from Korei and Digapahandi seats, respectively. Arabinda Dhali, a former BJD member and sitting Jaydev MLA, will seek reelection from the same seat under the BJP banner. Priyadarshi Mishra, son-in-law of former Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani, has secured a ticket for the Bhubaneswar-North constituency.

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