Bhubaneswar: The much delayed but sudden announcement of the date of the by-poll to the Bijepur Assembly seat by the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not surprised anyone in the state.
The news came on a day when the state government was already facing a backlash from the opposition over the suicide of the Kunduli gang-rape victim. The two major opposition parties – the Congress and the BJP – Tuesday announced a state-wide bandh over the issue to corner the government.
Tuesday was also a day when the Centre faced a blow in the Supreme Court with the apex court asking it to issue a notification within a month for setting up a tribunal to resolve the protracted Mahanadi dispute. The verdict of the apex court was a shot in the arm for the state’s ruling party.
The ECI was already facing heat from the Delhi High Court which had asked it Monday to file its response within a week as to why the by-election to the Assembly constituency has been delayed.
In this background, the sudden announcement of the date of notification of the by-poll has intrigued political pundits who believe the saffron camp might have nudged the poll panel to announce the date without further delay so that the former could make the most of the Kunduli backlash.
Earlier, the BJD and the Congress had alleged that the BJP government at the Centre pressured the Election Commission to delay notification of the by-poll.
A BJD leader said while the saffron party was on the back foot over the SC’s ruling on the formation of a tribunal on Mahanadi, the anointment of Naveen as ideal CM left it red faced.
BJD chief whip Amar Sathpathy, who accused the BJP of lacking issues and deliberately attacking the state government over Kunduli incident said both the BJP and the Congress were trying to politicise the sensitive case regardless of the fact that the matter was being probed by a judicial commission. He further said that the opposition’s move won’t affect the BJD’s prospects in the by-poll.
The saffron party, however, hit back. The party’s state unit spokesman Sajjan Sharma said, “It is the BJD which is lacking issues and the party is blaming the BJP to hide its inefficiency.”
Sharma said, “The BJP has nothing to do with the announcement of Bijepur by-poll date and the protest over Kunduli tragedy has also nothing to do with the by-poll.”
He said, “It was BJD’s Prasanna Acharya, who had filed a case over the Assembly elections in Bijepur in 2014 and that delayed the by-poll.”
As the High-Court’s verdict came in October, the six month period for the by-poll started from the date of the court’s verdict allowing the EC to issue a notification on any date during this period, he added.
Sudarsan Maharana, OP
