BJD considering early selection of candidates for 2019 polls, says Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said the BJD is seriously considering early selection of party candidates for the general elections due next year. The chief minister, also the president of the ruling BJD, said this while responding to queries about the party’s strategy following moves of the Congress and the BJP to select their candidates, for the polls due next year, well in advance. [caption id=“attachment_4050337” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. PTI[/caption] Elections for Lok Sabha as well as state Assembly are due in 2019. “We are looking seriously into the matter. A decision will be taken within the party forum,” Patnaik told reporters soon after his return here from a five-day visit to Delhi. Patnaik’s statement assumes significance as the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) and top leaders of BJP have made it clear that they are working towards early finalisation of their candidates for the polls due next year. The chief minister also voiced confidence that his suggestion for inclusion of Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of non-violence in the preamble of Indian Constitution would be accepted. “I am certainly very hopeful (about his suggestion being accepted),” Patnaik said responding to a query. During his Delhi visit, Patnaik attended the first meeting of the National Committee for Commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 May and called for inclusion of non-violence in the preamble of the Constitution as a tribute to the father of the nation. “I had suggested that non-violence should be included in the preamble of the Constitution as a mark of respect to Mahatma Gandhi,” the chief minister said. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of non-violence, Patnaik during the meeting held on 2 May had said that progress cannot be achieved without peace and “progress requires the defeat of those who divide society on basis of class, caste and religion”.