Bhubaneswar: The BJD candidate for Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, Anubhav Mohanty, and the BJP’s Baijayant Panda, who has served this constituency for a decade, are now eying the coastal area to triumph and prove their mettle.
Desperate to reach out to the maximum number of people, both the BJP and the BJD are trying to paste their party posters in every nook and corner of rural areas in the constituency. But their voter-attention grabbing attempt has an ironical twist.
The ruling party that had promised to provide pucca houses to all in its 2014 manifesto is using kuccha houses to advertise for party candidates. It could be interpreted as a symbol of the BJD’s failure or a promise waiting to be fulfilled.
Similarly, the BJP MP candidate from Kendrapara, Baijayant Panda, who remained a parliamentarian from this area but failed to provide pucca houses to all in his constituency, is also using the kuccha houses to advertise himself.
A visit by this correspondent has revealed that a number of kuccha houses which narrate the sorry state of affairs in the state are being used by both the BJD and the BJP to catch the attention of the voters who are all set to vote for their next MLA and MP candidates Monday through colourful posters.
Many villagers in the constituency said that despite the promises of making all kuccha houses pucca, many are still left as kuccha till date. Moreover, according to the state government statistics, Kendrapara is one of the most laggard areas when it comes to converting kuccha houses into pucca houses and giving shelter to the homeless which in itself is a report card of the incumbent MP and MLAs from this area.
Manoranjan Mohanty, a villager from the Dashipur panchayat said, “Despite the visits of several party candidates during these elections, there are many kuccha houses in our village which are still to see the attention of the government and the politicians.”
Besides, several villages in Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district like Parinuapada, Dashipur and others still have a lot of kuccha houses.
