Khurda: Candidates of all three major political parties and also independent nominees are going all-out to attract voters of Khurda Assembly constituency that would go to the polls April 23.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has fielded former MLA Jyotirindranath Mitra from the seat while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Kalu Khandayatray to contest the 2019 Assembly elections.
The Congress party has picked Swagatika Patnaik as its candidate for the segment.
Apart from the candidates of three major political parties, altogether five independent nominees are contesting the 2019 polls from Khurda segment.
In the past, many independent nominees had won the seat by defeating the candidates of political parties. Independent nominee Prasanna Kumar Patsani had been elected from Khurda seat in a by-election in 1985. The by-election was conducted after Congress leader Janaki Ballav Patnaik vacated the seat.
Subsequently, Patsani had joined the erstwhile Janata Dal and won the constituency in 1990 and 1995 Assembly elections.
Similarly, erstwhile independent candidate Jyotirindranath Mitra was elected from the constituency in 2000 elections. He had also joined the ruling BJD and won the seat for the second time in 2004.
Voters of the constituency had chosen the then independent candidate Rajendra Kumar Sahoo in 2009 Assembly elections. Sahoo, subsequently, shifted his allegiance to ruling BJD and won the seat for the second time in 2014.
This time, the BJD leadership has shifted Sahoo to Begunia Assembly segment.
Political observers have opined that independent candidates may pose a serious threat to the candidates of all three major parties in 2019 elections.
According to sources, independent nominee Jitendra Pradhan has a strong organisation in Khurda town. Pradhan’s growing popularity has become a cause for concern for candidates of both BJD and BJP.
On the other hand, independent candidates Chintamani Sahu, Dillip Kumar Biswal, Priya Ranjan Patra and Mohit Ranjan Behera are likely to draw a sizable amount of votes in Tangi block.
“Both BJD and Congress have traditional vote banks in Khurda. The BJP is trying to win the seat by making a dent in the traditional vote banks of BJD and Congress,” said a political observer.
It is worth mentioning here that the saffron party had won a Zilla Parishad zone and secured second positions in another three zones in Khurda in 2017 panchayat elections in state.
According to a few observers, the recent murder of BJP leader Manguli Jena may influence the voters in this election. The saffron party has alleged the involvement of BJD activists in the murder.
Even, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have targeted the ruling BJD over the incident while campaigning for saffron party nominees in Odisha.
Modi alleged that the BJD was resorting to violence to retain power by hook or crook. BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan too targeted the BJD for Jena’s murder and claimed that the people of Khurda would give a befitting reply to the regional party in the election.
However, the BJD has rejected all these allegations. BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the party’s Khurda leadership have demanded an impartial probe into the incident.