BHUBANESWAR: The ruling BJD is yet to take a call on selection of candidates for three Lok Sabha and 28 assembly segments.Ticket aspirants continue to throng to Naveen Niwas to meet party president Naveen Patnaik for a shot at the polls. Some others have resorted to pressure tactics such as getting their supporters to hold rallies outside the chief minister’s office.The BJD strategists are working to finalize candidates for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat, currently held by senior leader and five-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab . Party sources said though a section of leaders was in favour of denying a ticket to Mahtab, the leadership has not ruled out his name.The name of editor-turned-politician and Rajya Sabha member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is doing the rounds for Cuttack but sources said he was more interested in fighting from the Khandapada assembly segment, where he has tremendous clout. In the 2014 assembly elections, Soumya Ranjan had lost the polls to BJD’s Anubhav Patnaik by a thin margin of 601 votes. Both Soumya Ranjan and Anubhav visited Naveen Niwas on Friday.Subash Singh, president of Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, is also looking at the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat. The BJP has fielded former Odisha DGP and former DG of CRPF Prakash Mishra from Cuttack while Congress is yet to announce a candidate.The BJD is also looking for alternative candidates for the Dhenkanal and Keonjhar Lok Sabha seats. While Dhenkanal MP Tathagata Satpathy has quit politics, BJD will replace sitting Keonjhar MP Sakuntala Laguri.Aspirants for various assembly seats have also made a beeline for Naveen Niwas. Baripada MLA and deputy speaker in the assembly Sananda Marndi visited Naveen Niwas, while supporters of BJP secretary Bijay Nayak, an aspirant for the Bari constituency, staged a protest outside Naveen’s residence seeking a change of candidature.

Stay updated with all the Latest Cuttack headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.