TNI Bureau: BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today filed his nomination paper to fight election from the Kantabanji Assembly seat in Balangir district.
According to reports, Patnaik landed at the Titilgarh High School and then went to the sub-collector’s office in a grand procession and filed the nomination papers.
Senior party leaders like VK Pandian, Anang Uday Singh Deo and others were present when the BJD supremo filed his second nomination paper.
With filing the nomination paper, Patnaik will now contest against his rival Congress candidate Santosh Singh Saluja, who is the sitting MLA of the constituency.
Winning the Kantabanji Assembly seat has now become a matter of prestige for the state ruling party as the party supremo has decided to contest from the seat after the conch party finished third in 2019.
It is to be noted here that Patnaik had filed his first nomination papers from the Hinjili constituency in Ganjam district. In 2019 too, he had filed two nominations- one from Hinjili and the other from the Bijepur and won both the seats.