Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha: Full list of candidates, polling dates

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Kalahandi Lok Sabha Constituency is one of 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in the eastern state of Odisha and cast its vote in the 2019 election on April 11.

Kalahandi registered 75.97 percent voter turnout in 2019, a gain of 0.27 percent. The total number of electors in the constituency is 1610031 while the total voter turnout is 1223207. While in 2014, the constituency registered 75.70 percent voter turnout. The total number of electors in the constituency was 1473768 while the total voter's turnout was 1115592.

Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency covers seven assembly segments –  Nuapada, Khariar, Lanjigarh, Junagarh, Dharmgarh, Bhawanipatna and Narla. While Lanjigarh assembly segment is reserved for members of Scheduled Tribe, Bhawanipatna is reserved for members for Scheduled Caste.

The first phase of voting in Kalahandi - one of the four parliamentary constituencies of Odisha where polling was held - ended on April 11. The fate of 7 contesting candidates will be decided on May 23 when counting of votes takes place and the result is declared. 

Here is the full list of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election in 2019 from Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha.

1	PUSPENDRA SINGH DEO	Biju Janata Dal
2	PREMANANDA BAG	Bahujan Samaj Party
3	CHHABILAL NIAL	Ambedkarite Party of India
4	BASANTA KUMAR PANDA	Bharatiya Janata Party
5	BHAKTA CHARAN DAS	Indian National Congress
6	KAMALINI YADAV	Bahujan Mukti Party
9	CHHABILAL NIAL	Ambedkarite Party of India
10	HATIRAM DURGA	Independent

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Arka Keshari Deo of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) – won with a  margin of over 56 thousand votes. He had defeated Pradeep Kumar Naik of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Arka joined BJD in 2013 after his father Bikram Keshari Deo, who was a BJP MP from Kalahandi, died.

Some of the other candidates in the fray were Bhakta Charan Das from  Indian National Congress (INC) and Siba Hati from Samajwadi Party (SP).

In the year 2009, Bhakta Charan Das of the INC managed to secure his winning position by getting 1.5 lakh votes against BJD'S Subhas Chandra Behera.

The voter turnout across 1732 polling stations for this election here was 68.85 per cent. Some of the other candidates in the fray were BSP's Nakula Majhi and BJP's Bikram Keshari.