Balasore: A triangular contest for the by-poll to Balasore Assembly segment is on the cards as the political situation heats up with leaders of several political parties visiting the area to wrest the seat, a report said.
The by-poll was necessitated due to the untimely demise of sitting MLA Madan Mohan Dutta due to health reasons. The election will be held November 3 for which campaigning will come to an end November 1.
Political parties have intensified their campaigning for the victory of their candidates. All eyes are on the result of this Assembly seat as leaders of major political parties like Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have pitched their tents and making every effort to ensure the victory of their candidates.
However, three political parties namely, BJP, BJD and Congress are mainly in the fray and have fielded their respective candidates for the seat. Manas Dutta, son of the deceased MLA Madan Mohan Dutta is contesting from the BJP while the ruling BJD has fielded newcomer Swaroop Das as its candidate.
Similarly, opposition Congress has fielded a woman candidate Mamata Kundu for the seat. Five independents are also in the fray. The Balasore Assembly segment comprises Balasore civic body area, 26 panchayats under Sadar block and 11 panchayats of Remuna block. According to February 2020 census report, the total number of voters is 2,260,582 in this Assembly seat.
Among them, the number of male voters is 1,16,883 while the number of female voters is 1,09,990 and nine transgender voters. The district administration has made arrangement for 346 booths instead of usual 198 booths in view of the COVID norms imposed in the state. Every booth will have facility for voting for less than 1,000 voters.
Former MLA Arun Dey has won from this seat five times, Rabindra Mohan Das twice, Jeevan Pradip Das thrice. Since independence, only nine leaders have been elected to the state Assembly from this seat. The ruling party at different point of times has won from this seat for six times while the opposition has won it for 10 times.
The deceased MLA Madan Mohan Dutta won from this seat in the 2019 elections by securing 74,815 votes while his nearest rival Jeevan Pradip Das garnered only 13,406 votes. The BJP has fielded his son Manas Dutta to get the sympathy votes and win from this seat, sources said.
The BJD has fielded Swaroop Das for the first time from this seat. BJD’s Jeevan Pradip Das who won from this seat in 2009 and 2014, has been dropped from contesting the election for his defeat in 2019 elections. The opposition Congress is trying to regain this seat by playing woman card and fielding Mamata Kundu as its candidate. The Congress had not won from this seat since 1985.
With only 14 days left for the elections, all the candidates are eyeing the rural voters and moving from village to village to wrest their support by making various promises. The candidates are also eyeing the young voters and trying to woo them through various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp. They are posting their plans and programmes and election manifestoes by appointing a dedicated team to run the campaign.
“The BJP is laying stress on a corruption-free and prosperous Balasore and will expedite the developmental works initiated in the area,” Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi said. The Saffron party is also targeting BJD for not doing anything for the area when its candidate was the MLA for the last 10 years.
“The BJD is laying stress on the state government getting applause from the WHO for effective management of Covid infections and construction of the ring road which was the dream project of former MP,” party candidate Swaroop Das said. “Balasore had achieved the best of development in establishment of industries, availability of better healthcare facilities and education during our government,” Congress leader Navajyoti Patnaik said.
It is claimed that whoever wins the support of Left parties will win from this seat as Balasore district was once the fortress of Left parties. The Left parties have not fielded any candidate and extended their support to the Congress candidate, sources said.
PNN