Summary:
Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Monday announced former MP Kharabela Swain as its nominee for Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat hours after he returned to the party. The 1980-batch Indian Allied Services Officer said with his joining the BJP, the Utkal Bharat will be merged with the saffron party. I will contest from Kandhamal,” Swain said hours before his name was formally released by the party. Swain will face BJD’s Achyuta Samanta and Congress’ Manoj Kumar Acharya, among others, in Kandhamal.Retired IPS officer Prakash Mishra was named party candidate from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat represented by Bhartruhari Mahtab of BJD in the outgoing LS. Mishra, who also served as CRPF DG (2014-2016), termed his selection as a BJP candidate as, “A huge opportunity to serve the people of Cuttack..