Jajpur: Hectic lobbying has started for tickets among various political parties with the 2024 general and state elections drawing near, sources said here Monday. Similar activities are also being witnessed in the Korei Assembly segment in this district where the fight for getting a BJD ticket has been titled as ‘blood versus tree’ by workers and political observers. This is because of the activities of the two aspirants – Ashok Bala and Akash Das Nayak. Incumbent MLA Bala along with Bhaba Prasad Das (Lala), the brother of BJD’s organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das (Bobby), has been organising blood donation camps all over the Assembly segment.
On the other hand, Akash is on a ‘Green Mission’ planting saplings left, right, and centre to develop green cover in the constituency. Sources said that the development of Korei has taken a backseat due to the fielding of a new candidate in every Assembly election. As a result, the MLAs after getting elected do not show any inclination for developing the constituency, they alleged. To end this merry-go-round, the BJD is trying to find a permanent candidate for Korei, a person who will be answerable to the voters. Bala knows he has a chance of getting renominated and that is one of the reasons for his outreach to the public. Not to be outdone, Akash launched his ‘Mission Green’ on July 5. He and other invitees planted over 200 saplings at the Maa Kamudei shrine, the presiding deity of Paramanandapur village under Pacchikote panchayat in the Korei Assembly segment, Thursday. Akash and others also distributed a free sapling to each household in the village. He asked the residents to usher in green cover in all areas of Korei Assembly segment. On the other hand, Bala organised a blood donation camp June 28, birthday of Pranab.
Over 1,300 units of blood were collected in the camp which was attended by senior district leaders of the BJD. However, the MLA’s detractors were quick to question on social media the shortage of blood at the Jajpur Road blood bank. “When so much blood is being collected, why is there shortage always in the blood bank,” they asked. BJD’s vote share decreased by 5.91 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. BJD had got 55.78 per cent votes in the 2014 elections which came down to 49.81 per cent in 2019. The BJP was the biggest gainer with its vote bank increasing to 40.5 per cent 2019 from 15.53% (2014). Congress got 22.77 per cent votes in 2014 but it decreased to 8.39% in 2019. In the Zilla Parishad and Vyasanagar Municipality elections held in 2022, BJD however, reigned supreme. Its vote share rose to 60 per cent while that of the BJP fell to 25 per cent and Congress to 15 per cent.
