Bijepur: Political activities have gathered steam in Bijepur Assembly constituency after the Election Commission of India scheduled the by-poll here October 21.
The Congress became the first party to declare its candidate for the high-profile seat in Bargarh district. The party has fielded Dillip Kumar Panda as its candidate and is said to be trying hard to get back its old stronghold.
The ruling BJD, under the aegis of party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, also held a meeting to finalise its nominee. The party is likely to name its nominee for the seat in a couple of days.
The BJD aspirant and ex-MLA Rita Sahu is known to have started meeting people of the constituency in some or the other way. She met the inmates of Parbati Giri old-age home at Samaleipadar of Bijepur block Tuesday.
According to sources, Sahu distributed fruits, sweets among inmates and sought their blessings. She also discussed with them about various problems and issues facing the old-age home. Prominent local leaders, namely Tikayat Mahattam, Sudam Das and many others accompanied Sahu during her visit.
The saffron party is also not left behind. It has accelerated its pre-poll exercise. State party president Basant Kumar Panda conducted a preparatory meeting at Attabira Wednesday to discuss the party’s strategies, reports said.
Bargarh MP Suresh Kumar Pujari, Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete, Kuchinda ex-MLA Rabinarayan Naik, Padampur ex-MLA Pradip Purohit, ex-MLA Patnagarh KV Singh Deo, Kumara Behera, Amitabh Chakraborty, Ashwini Sarangi, Arupananda Sahu, Irasish Acharya, Manas Mohanty, Sukanta Das had attended the meeting.
