'BJD will perform very well in LS, Assembly polls'

Biju Janata Dal president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday claimed that his regional party will perform "very well" in the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections.

Stating that the process for selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections was on, Patnaik said the list would be finalised very soon.

BJD will field candidates in all 147 Assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha. The regional party presently has 118 MLAs in the Assembly and 20 MPs in Lok Sabha.

On the ruling party's poll preparations, the BJD chief said his party was fully prepared. "The BJD will perform very well in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections," he said.

While replying to a question on the problem of plenty as a number of retired bureaucrats have joined the BJD, Patnaik said: "We will manage it well."

Meanwhile, the BJD president appointed former bureaucrat Gopabandhu Das as his political secretary. Das was earlier additional secretary in the Chief Ministers Office.

Polling for the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will be held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.