Bhadrak: The Bhadrak Parliamentary seat assumes an important place in the state politics. The seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, comprises seven Assembly segments — Soro, Simulia (Balasore), Bhadrak, Basudevpur, Dhamnagar, Chandbali and Bhandaripokhari.
With electioneering at its peak, eight candidates from various parties are in the fray in the Lok Sabha constituency.
However, a tough contest is expected among the nominees from the three major parties – the BJD, the BJP and the Congress. These candidates are crorepatis.
In the elections held between 1951 and 2014, Congress nominees have won seven times while non-Congress candidates have won eight times.
Veteran leader Arjun Charan Sethi has a record of winning eight times from the seat. As the BJD denied ticket to Arjun this time, he joined the BJP. The saffron party has fielded Arjun’s son Abhimanyu, who owns property worth Rs 2.71 crore.
The ruling BJD has played the woman card by fielding Manjulata Mandal, wife of Dhamnagar MLA, Muktikant Mandal. She is said to be a crorepati with bank deposits worth Rs 4.71 crore, apart from several other properties.
Similarly, the Congress has also played the woman card, by fielding Madhumita Sethi, the daughter of former MP Ananta Sethi. She had done Masters Degree in Computer Application under OUAT and got a Degree in Business Administration from the Punjab Technical University. She owns properties worth over Rs 1.44 crore.
Given the changing political equations and the influential political backgrounds of the three candidates, the seat is poised for a tough fight among the three major parities in the coming elections.
PNN