Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), has revealed that he will be contesting from the Kantabanji assembly constituency in Bolangir district in the upcoming assembly elections. This decision comes in addition to his traditional seat, Hinjili, which he will also be contesting for. Patnaik made the announcement while releasing the 5th list of nine candidates for the Assembly elections in the state. The list includes six women and four turncoats. The BJD has dropped four sitting MLAs and nominated four turncoats to contest the elections. Notably, Patnaik had contested from two seats in the 2019 assembly elections and emerged victorious in both. However, he later resigned from one seat and retained Hinjili. The BJD president has also interchanged the candidature of two leaders, with Rohit Pujari being nominated from the Sambalpur assembly segment and Prasanna Acharya contesting from Rairakhol. The party has so far announced 126 candidates out of the total 147 assembly segments in Odisha.