Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has picked a woman Sarpanch to fight the upcoming Assembly elections from Remuna constituency in Odisha’s Balasore district.

Bidyasmita Mahalik, the Sarpanch of Patripal panchayat under Remuna block in Balasore, has been nominated by the BJD to fight the 2024 Assembly polls in the state.

The nomination of Bidyasmita as the BJD candidate for Remuna Assembly seat came as a surprise for many.

“Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has picked a Sarpanch to fight the Assembly elections from Remuna. I am thankful to the Chief Minister for giving me a bigger opportunity to serve the people of my locality,” said Mahalik.

Notably, BJD candidate Sudhanshu Sekhar Parida had won the Assembly elections from Remuna constituency in 2019.

The ruling party had expelled Parida for alleged anti-people activities in September last year.

Parida was accused of misappropriating government subsidy, meant for farmers, to the tune of Rs 3 crore during the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20. The Vigilance department had launched a probe into the issue as per the direction of Odisha Lokayukta.