Kamakhyanagar: As the general and Assembly elections draw closer, suspension, dismissal, party switching and merger are increasingly becoming new normal for all the political parties in Odisha.
Every party is witnessing hectic parleys over selection of the candidates as number of ticket aspirants is rising each passing day. Amid the buzz over a possible alliance between the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), all eyes are on the selection of candidates for Parjang Assembly seat under Dhenkanal Lok Sabha segment.
BJD has retained Parjang Assembly constituency since 2009. The ruling party’s Nrusingha Charan Sahu expresses his desire to contest from this seat for the fourth time and hopes to emerge victorious.
The BJP, on the other hand, is making every effort to thwart Nrusingha’s attempt to win this seat again. The saffron party’s leaders are claiming that intraparty rift plaguing the ruling BJD is going to help them in the upcoming elections. Factionalism erupted in BJD during the three-tier panchayat elections in 2022 has reached an explosive situation. BJD’s youth leader Kartik Sahu, after his dismissal from the party, has switched over to BJP. Chatters are abuzz that the saffron party is now in an advantageous position.
Earlier, speculations were rife that BJD might drop Nrusingha and instead field Kartik in the upcoming election. It is expected that the saffron party might field Bibhuti Pradhan from this Assembly seat as BJD’s Kartik joining BJP will further place the party in a comfortable and advantageous position.
Parjang Assembly seat under Dhenkanal Lok Sabha segment was formed in 2009 comprising 21 panchayats of Kankadahada block, 29 panchayats of Parjang block and six panchayats of Kamakhyanagar block in Dhenkanal district. BJD has been winning Parjang Assembly constituency since its formation. Incumbent MLA Sahu, who left Congress and joined BJD in 2009, has won this seat thrice.
However, BJP’s Bibhuti Pradhan has been giving a tough fight to Sahu every time. Bibhuti lost once in Pallahara and thrice from Sahu in Parjang Assembly seat but is yet to give up and has stayed firm in his conviction. The saffron party has also not lost its hope on Bibhuti. Meanwhile, an analysis revealed that the vote share of Bibhuti in Parjang Assembly segment has increased during the three elections since 2009 despite losing to BJD’s candidate.
In 2009 elections, the vote margin by which Nrusingha won the polls against Bibhuti stood at 5,188 while it was 3,052 in 2014 and 740 in 2019. An analysis of the vote share tells us that Bibhuti is better placed to take on Nrusingha head on in the upcoming 2024 elections.
Grapevines have it that BJP’s Bibhuti, who is the nephew of former Union Minister Debendra Pradhan and cousin of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, will put up a good show in the upcoming polls.
PNN
