Cuttack: Political atmosphere in the Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency is heating up each passing day even as the three major political parties have started their preparations for the upcoming general elections.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Bhartruhari Mahtab had won the Lok Sabha segment five times consecutively since 1998. However, political observers believe that the ruling BJD would take several factors into consideration while picking a candidate for Cuttack Lok Sabha seat this time.
Apart from Mahtab, the names of Barabati-Cuttack MLA Debashish Samantaray, Baramba MLA Debiprasad Mishra and Athagarh MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain are doing rounds as BJD nominees for the Lok Sabha seat.
While Mahtab refused to comment on the candidature issue, the above mentioned BJD leaders claimed that party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would call the shots.
According to sources, the Congress party is likely to field former minister Panchanan Kanungo from the segment. However, several Congress leaders like Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) general secretary Bishwajit Das, party spokesperson Ashok Samal, former ministers Bijaylaxmi Sahoo and Sarat Rout and former MLA Sameer Routray are also in the race to get a ticket from the seat.
When contacted, Kanungo said the Congress party would take a decision on the candidature issue. “My family’s relationship with Cuttack is very old. My elder brother was the chairman of Cuttack municipality in 1990s and he had also contested from the Cuttack Sadar Assembly segment. I would work for the Congress party irrespective of the candidature issue,” claimed Kanungo, who recently joined Congress.
The former minister also claimed that the Congress party has been challenging the ruling BJD from the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat for last several years. “There would be a direct fight between BJD and Congress nominees from the seat this time too,” he asserted.
Congress leaders Bishwajit Das and Ashok Samal said they would abide by the party’s decision on the candidature issue.
Grapevines have it that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may field well-known lawyer Pitambar Acharya from the Lok Sabha segment. “There is much possibility that BJD would provide a ticket to Mahtab and Congress would field Kanungo. There would be a fight between the old guards and the new if BJP opts for Acharya,” said a political observer.
Acharya, meanwhile, claimed that many voters in the constituency do not know Mahtab as an MP. “Mahtab has been elected from the seat five times consecutively. I am doubtful whether 700 people from the seven Assembly segments under Cuttack Lok Sabha seat have any idea about Mahtab as an MP,” he claimed.
BJP leader Sameer Dey, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Cuttack, is also in the race for the saffron party ticket from the seat. “The BJP is a national party. Party’s leadership would take a decision. I would fight the poll if the party wants it this way. I am a disciplined worker of BJP,” Dey said while replying to a query on his candidature.
It is worth mentioning here that Mahtab as BJD candidate had defeated Congress nominee actress Aparajita Mohanty by a margin of 3, 06,762 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, Mohanty had left Congress and joined BJP.
Notably, Barabati-Cuttack, Choudwar-Cuttack, Cuttack Sadar, Athagarh, Banki, Baramba and Khandapada Assembly segments come under the jurisdiction of Cuttack Lok Sabha seat.
