Bargarh: The electoral atmosphere in Bijepur Assembly constituency segment in Bargarh district is getting hotter each passing day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said it quit from the seat.
Bijepur has once again become the focus of political debate for the entire state. In a situation where hardly one-and-half years have passed since the last by-election in 2018, the people of Bijepur are going to face one more by-poll. Excitement runs high among the political parties and leaders ahead of the by-election.
On the other hand, a sense of desperation is also visualised among the local people of Bijepur regarding what they say ‘a deceitful act’ of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and it is being debated that such desperation of voters could have a decisive impact on the upcoming by-election.
The political observers are of the opinion that if such a sense of desperation takes a decisive turn, it might bring in trouble for the ruling BJD in the by-election. Meanwhile, the political parties who have lost the seat in the recently held general elections are in a mood to take advantage of the desperation and resentment of the voters of Bijepur.
Known as a Congress bastion, Bijepur embraced the BJD in the 2018 by-election following the demise of Congress Legislator Subal Sahu. The BJD had fielded Subal’s widow Rita Sahu to reap political dividends.
Just after one year and two months of the by-election, the BJD supremo, Naveen Patnaik, himself contested from the seat and won it with a margin of over 56,000 votes. Rita Sahu was not given a ticket to contest the elections.
After getting Naveen as their MLA, the people of Bijepur were very much hopeful about overall development of their constituency. However, reports said Naveen’s resignation from the Assembly seat just two weeks after being elected as the representative has hurt the sentiments of voters very hard.
Notably, the Chief Minister had announced a package of Rs 1,120 crore for the people of this constituency. However, the announcement of the package to appease the local voters has ostensibly failed to eliminate the desperation among voters. Because the announcement of packages like Gangadhar Meher Lift Irrigation project by Naveen during the last by-election has not yielded any result.
According to Harilal Sahu, a voter of this constituency, “Facing three consecutive elections within a period of just one-and-half years is a headache for the people here.”
Fakir Sahu, another voter of the constituency, said, “The voters of this constituency were very happy when they got Naveen as their representative in the Odisha Assembly. But, his resignation has left them disheartened.”
Political analyst Satyanarayan Padhi said, “The resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from Bijepur Assembly constituency could spread a negative message against the ruling party. People had not voted in the 2019 general elections for the package he has announced, but for his clean image and trust. Many of the packages announced during 2018 by-election have not yet been implemented.”
Some others feel that the efficiency of BJD government in managing polls and the clean image of the Chief Minister could help the ruling party emerge victorious.
