Gunupur: Delay in implementation of Gunupur-Therubali railway project has reportedly proved costly for the ruling BJD and opposition BJP as the Congress has bagged two zilla parishad (ZP) seats under the block in Rayagada district.
The BJD had to bite the dust in the panchayat polls here even though it registered landslide victory in other parts of the state. The performance of BJP was also disappointing while the Congress party won two ZP zones.
This has sent the chatters abuzz here as the local intellectuals attributed the electoral loss to neglect of Gunupur-Therubali railway project.
The two parties lost the polls despite senior and heavyweight party leaders campaigning for their candidates in the two zones.
Heavyweights like Rajya Sabha member N Bhaskar Rao, state advisor of Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) Sudhir Das, Gunupur MLA Raghunath Gamang campaigned for the ruling party but the party candidates lost in these two zones.
Similarly, former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang and BJP’s state party in-charge D Purandeswari campaigned for the candidates of the saffron party, but to no avail.
On the other hand, Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka and former ZP chairperson Bijay Gamang campaigned for the Congress candidates.
The Koraput MP has raised the delay in implementation of Gunupur-Therubali rail route project in Parliament and in various forums on a priority basis.
This perhaps endeared him to the masses for which Congress managed to win in these two zones in Gunupur.
The fate of the GunupurTherubali rail route is stuck between the state government and Centre while dates for the elections to the urban bodies are drawing closer.
The demand for construction of rail route between Gunupur and Therubali is not new but is of decade old.
However, the state government and Centre not giving two hoots to its implementation has sparked sharp resentment. With dates for civic body polls drawing closer, it remains to be seen how the issue is going to impact the voters.
PNN
