Both Prasanna Acharya and N Bhaskar Rao are the Vice Presidents of the BJD. Bishnu Charan Das, the BJD District President of Jagatsinghpur, is the arch-rival of Dr. Damodar Rout. Bhaskar Rao is currently serving as the Deputy Chairman of Odisha State Planning Board.
The election was held as three Rajya Sabha MPs from Odisha named Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Baishnab Parida and Bhupinder Singh will complete their tenure on 1 July, 2016.