Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency: Candidates for 2019 LS poll, past results, all updates

Cuttack has been a BJD bastion for the last two decades, which the BJP is hoping to breach in Lok Sabha election 2019. It is one of the rare constituencies where BJD has given a ticket to an incumbent. 5-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab of BJD has been nominated as the candidate despite concerns among sections of the party regarding anti-incumbency. He is facing Odisha's former top cop Prakash Misra. 

Prakash Misra was the DGP of Odisha police before Naveen Patnaik removed him. Misra retired as head of CRPF in 2016 and has joined electoral politics contesting for BJP. Misra though is still bitter about his fallout with the Odisha CM. He was quoted as saying that Naveen Patnaik became angry when an ambulance carrying cash from BJD was intercepted in 2014. Working in an 'unbiased manner' lead to his ouster believes Misra. Now as a BJP candidate, Misra has the chance of taking revenge. 

However, BJP has never done well in Cuttack in the past. In 2014, BJP candidate came third getting only 14% vote whereas Bhartruhari Mahtab got massive 53.75% vote. Congress came second. This time though the party candidate Panchanan Kanungo is finding it hard to get any traction. 

Baramba, Banki, Athagarh, Barabati-Cuttack, Choudwar-Cuttack, Cuttack Sadar, Khandapada are the assembly segments under Cuttack. BJP will be hoping to get leads from the urban segments and BJD is stronger in rural belts.  In the past, Congress has won the seat nine times including ex- Odisha CM JB Patnaik winning it twice. Janata Dal won twice, Janata Party once and Praja Socialist party too has won the seat once from this historic city, which was the capital of Odisha earlier.