Bijepur/Bargarh: The political temperature in Bijepur Assembly constituency is high as the by-election is seen as the semi final by the state’s leading parties before next year’s LS and Assembly elections.
A keen contest is on the card as the three leading parties – the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – are leaving no stone unturned to win the by-poll that will indicate the state’s political mood. The parties have already chalked out campaign strategies and the going seems to be challenging for everyone.
Tough contest in the offing
All the three leading parties have readied their plans. Stars of the Oriya film industry are coming to the constituency for campaigning. Actor turned politicians Anubhab Mohanty, Sidhanta Mohapatra and Smash Das Nathan will campaign for the BJD; Mihir Das, Anu Choudhury and Sritam Das for the BJP; and Bijay Mohanty, Aparajita Mohanty and others will campaign for the Congress. Some of them have already joined the high voltage campaigning. Top politicians will join them shortly.
BJD leaders said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will campaign in Gaisilet and Barpali February 19 and Bijepur February 21. The party has appointed six to eight MLAs in each block to ensure smooth campaigning and polls.
The BJD in-charge in Bijepur block, Arun Sahoo said the people are supporting Rita Sahu. “We will also highlight the welfare measures and development projects of our government during the campaign,” Rita Sahu said. The BJP’s Bijepur zone head, Nauri Nayak, said Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and the Union textiles minister will come to campaign for Panigrahi. He said Smriti Irani and UP CM Yogi Adityanath may also come, though it hasn’t been finalised.
“We have appointed prabharis in every Panchayat and have also completed Panchayat meetings. We will go for door to door campaigning and organise rallies highlighting achievements of the BJP government at the Centre,” Nayak added.Two publicity vans with LCD screens will be used to show our achievements, he said.
Congress leader Bijay Das
said that all top leaders will join the campaign. He said that it hasn’t been decided yet if any national leaders would come to campaign.
Sudarsan Maharana, OP
