TNI Bureau: As expected, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) general secretary (Organisation) Pranab Prakash Das has been pitted against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.

Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik today fielded Pranab from the high-profile Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. Earlier, the saffron party has named Dharmendra Pradhan as its candidate for the Parliamentary constituency.

The contest between the two heavyweight leaders of the respective parties in Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency is expected to be one of the toughest fights between both the parties during this upcoming election and all eyes of the politicians and political analysts will be on it.

Interestingly, this is the first Lok Sabha election for Pranab Prakash Das, the three-time MLA from Jajpur assembly constituency, while Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has returned to the electoral fray after a gap of 15 years. He had last contested elections in 2009.

Pradhan had won from the Pallahara Assembly and Deogarh Lok Sabha seats in 2000 and 2004 respectively. However, he lost the 2009 assembly elections. Later, the BJP sent him to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2012 and from Madhya Pradesh in 2018.