Congress names candidates for 3 Odisha Assembly seats

Bhubaneswar, April 4 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for three Assembly seats in the state.Basant Kumar Moharana will contest from Khandapada and Swagatika Patnaik from the Khurda Assembly seat, said Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik.The party has replaced Yudhistir Samantaray with Ajit Mangaraj in the Pipili Assembly constituency. Meanwhile, ruling Biju Janata Dal President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the name of Meenakshi Mahanta as the candidate for the Champua Assembly constituency in Keonjhar district.The Lok Sabha and Assembly polls will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29. Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats.
--IANS cd/ksk/bg