Bhadrak: The BJD swept the Assembly and parliamentary polls in Bhadrak, but three new candidates of the ruling party tasted electoral success in their debut attempts.
They are Manjulata Mandal elected as MP from Bhadrak Lok Sabha seat; Sanjib Mallick elected as MLA from Bhadrak Sadar and Bishnubrata Routray from Basudevpur.
This time, the BJD played ‘woman card’ by fielding Manjulata Mandal, wife of former Dhamnagar MLA Muktikant Mandal, as MP nominee from the Bhadrak parliamentary constituency. Manjulata, a housewife, came out of her closet and handed out electoral success in her political debut for the ruling party.
It is said that Muktikand Mandal had delivered well in his constituency. His support base and rapport with people had helped Manjulata win the battle against her nearest rival BJP’s Abhimanyu Sethi by a margin of 28,803 votes.
Another new leader who stormed the Assembly arena is Sanjib Mallick, the son of former MLA Hrudananda Mallick, and brother of former MLA Manasranjan Mallick.
Born into a political family, Mallick got his electoral breakthrough in the first attempt. He had established a rapport with people through his social work over years.
Another new leader is Bishnubrata Routray, who made his political debut in Basudevpur. His grandfather Nilamani Routray was the chief minister while his father Bijoyshree Routray had been elected from this seat several times. He is now general secretary of the BJD’s district unit.
PNN
