Malkangiri: With the three-tier panchayat elections likely to be held in February, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) wants to leave no stone unturned to broaden its support base in Malkangiri district.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, on their part, seem to be on a back foot and losing ground in Chitrakonda and Malkangiri Assembly constituencies.
In these two constituencies, the two opposition parties received jolts as over 1,000 party workers from the BJP and the Congress crossed over to the BJD at a Misran Parba here Wednesday.
Notably, the BJD had won in Chitrakonda and the BJP won in Malkangiri in the last Assembly elections. According to reports, Malkangiri Assembly segment has 60 per cent Bengali-speaking voters.
The BJD had set its sight on these voters. Five months ago, the ruling party started efforts to ensure that these voters get benefits from various welfare schemes of the state government.
The ruling party organized a misran parba at Harichand Ashram on the banks of Potteru river, Wednesday. Over 4,000 workers and district level functionaries attended the meeting.
The BJD’s organizational secretary, Pranab Prakash Das, Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera, chairperson of Odisha State Seeds Corporation Iswar Panigrahy, Chitrakonda MLA Purnachandra Baka, former MLAs Manas Madkami, Mukund Sodi, former MP Pradip Majhi and party’s district observer Prakash Dang deliberated on various welfare schemes of the state government.
Over 1,000 BJP and Congress workers, including Bengali people joined the BJD. The BJD’s organizational secretary announced as assistance of Rs 1 crore for development of Harichand Ashram temple and the ashram.
PNN
