Bhubaneswar: Even as the two-day election for office-bearers of Bhubaneswar Club is all set to begin September 25, many in the Capital city are curious to know what big interest is involved in this entire exercise.
Two former Chief Secretaries of Odisha have entered the fray for the president’s post of the club. Former Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, who is the chairman of Western Odisha Development Council and president of Bhubaneswar Gulf Club, will take on former Chief Secretary Bijay Patnaik for the top post of the club.
Both sides have left no stone unturned to win the election. The manner in which the campaigning is being carried out gives an impression that the poll will bring a humongous change in Odisha. They are reportedly holding regular cocktail parties and dinner meets at some hotels in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to garner support from the members of the club. Both sides are spending huge amounts to win the poll.
But this huge euphoria and expenses by the two groups have raised several questions.
It is learnt that the club’s late president Priyabrata Patnaik was not holding elections for the office bearers regularly which is why many wealthy and influential people have come forward to try their luck this time. Many others claim that there was some hidden agenda behind the election.
A purported list of candidates from Tripathy’s camp was doing the rounds in social media but there was no information on the associates of Patnaik.
In the meantime, a senior journalist and a social activist have reportedly sent WhatsApp messages to several members of the club and urged them to remain vigilant regarding a powerful group.
Patnaik’s camp is claiming that the former Chief Secretary had arranged a huge plot for the club during his tenure. But, his opponents are questioning the motive behind allotting the plot.
The contestants for Bhubaneswar Club’s managing committee are Asit Tripathy and Bijay Kumar Patnaik for president; Deba Shankar Tripathy, Jayant Kumar Hota, Mahendra Kumar Bhukta and Tapesh Rao for vice president; Ashok Chinchela, Damodar Pradhani, Jyotsnamayee Parida, Parthasarathi Panigrahy and Vishal Deb for secretary; Ashok Kumar Mishra, Jyotirmay Mohanty and Kaushik Mohapatra for joint secretary; and Aditya Tripathy, Alok Saraf, Arun Kumar Verma, Bhubanmohan Khadenga, Debabrata Biswal, Debendra Kumar Panda, Debesh Das, Gadadhar Mohapatra, Kalyan Sundar Chhotray, Manoj Kumar Sahoo, Parthajit Patnaik, Pragati Kumar Mohanty, Pramod Chandra Patnaik, PV Mohan, Sanjeev Kumar Bala, Sanjit Patra, Sarat Chandra Bhadra, Satyaranjan Satpathy, Surajit Pratap Singhdeo, Satyasmruti Mohanty, Tutul Kishore Das and Usasi Mishra for member posts.