Bhubaneswar: With the announcement of the schedule for by-election to Patkura Assembly seat in Kendrapara, all the major political parties in the state have geared up to woo the voters.
State Chief Electoral Officer Surendra Kumar said preparations have been made for the election to Patkura Assembly seat. Polling will be held at 309 booths in the constituency July 20 while result will be declared July 24, he said.
The model code of conduct (MCC) has come into force from Thursday and the state government, various departments and all political parties have been communicated, the CEO said. The MCC will be in force within the revenue boundaries of Kendrapara district only, he added.
While the BJD has fielded former MLA Bed Prakash Agarwalla’s wife Sabitri as its candidate, senior leader Bijoy Mohapatra is the BJP nominee for the seat. The Congress has named Jayant Mohanty as its candidate for the seat.
The ruling party has engaged its senior leaders including Ranendra Pratap Swain, Arun Sahoo, PK Deb, Pranab Prakash Das, Sanjay Das Burma and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak for the election management. Besides, many other senior leaders have been given responsibility of blocks and panchayats, sources said.
BJP sources said they have deployed senior leaders including KV Singh Deo, Manmohan Samal and Bhrugu Baxipatra for the election. Besides, some other senior leaders will also be engaged for the poll. Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi along with other leaders are likely to campaign for the party candidate.
However, Congress is lagging behind in the race and the party is planning to fight the poll over the emerging relationship between BJP and BJD.
Congress leader Santosh Singh Saluja said that his party would fight for the poor, farmers and general public. “Both BJP and BJD are two faces of the same coin. Therefore, people will definitely vote for us and our strength in the state Assembly will increase to 10,” he said.
BJD leader and Rourkela MLA Sarada Nayak said his party would win the election with a huge margin.
“There is no understanding with BJP. BJD will fight the poll on its own. Patkura is the workplace of legendary leader Biju Patnaik and people have imposed their faith on Naveen Patnaik. We will definitely win the poll with a huge margin,” Nayak said.
BJP too claimed that they are going to win the seat. “People are well aware of the developmental work done in past 19 years of BJD rule and what our leader Bijoy Mohapatra has done for the area,” said state BJP vice president Samir Mohanty.
The election to the Patkura Assembly seat was first scheduled to be held in the fourth phase of the recently concluded general election April 29. It was, however, adjourned due to the death of BJD nominee Bed Prakash Agarwalla April 20, 2019.
