Puri: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has named Jay Narayan Patnaik as their new candidate from the Puri parliamentary constituency in Odisha, replacing Sucharita Mohanty who returned her Lok Sabha ticket.
The decision was made by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and announced by party general secretary KC Venugopal in a press statement released late on Saturday night.
In a letter addressed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sucharita Mohanty mentioned that she is unable to carry out the campaign in Puri due to the lack of party funding. She further alleged that Odisha Congress in-charge Ajoy Kumar had asked her to fight using her own funds.
The Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha are scheduled to be held simultaneously and the last date for filing nominations for Lok Sabha polls in Odisha is May 6.
BJP’s Sambit Patra and BJD’s Arup Patnaik are among the candidates contesting for the high-profile seat of Puri.
