PEC finalises list of Congress candidates in Odisha

The Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) of the Odisha Congress Wednesday finalised the list candidates for the coming Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, a top state party leader said.

"We have prepared the list for 147 assembly segments and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies and sent it for the approval of the party's Central Election Committee," Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik told reporters.

The PEC meeting was attended by senior leaders including Congress in-charge of Odisha Jitendra Singh.

Patnaik said the party has given preference to youth, women and candidates with more chances of winning the polls.

The Odisha Congress working president Pradip Majhi said priority was given to the recommendations of the district level committees.

Earlier, the Odisha Congress had sent names of 44 candidates including all the sitting party MLAs and a few senior party leaders to the CEC in the first phase.

Sources said the candidate list cleared Wednesday has names of around two to three candidates for each of the constituencies.

The Congress is also holding talks with the CPI(M), CPI and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for seat sharing in the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections.