Jajpur: Political scenario prevailing for over last three decades in mine-rich Sukinda Assembly constituency segment has been gradually changing ahead of the three-tier rural polls in Jajpur.
Considering the increase in votes in 2017 panchayat polls and 2019 general elections, it can be observed that BJP has strengthened its base in the Assembly segment. While the party had not performed well in the panchayat polls, formation of panchayat samiti with support of its alliance partner in Danagadi was a terrible jolt to the ruling BJD.
In the 2019 general elections, the saffron camp bagged votes at an increased rate of 37.79 per cent, which had troubled the BJD.
However, the ruling party has strengthened its base a bit more by taking a few senior local leaders and young party workers of Congress to its own camp.
According to a source, Sukinda Assembly constituency segment has been a bastion of the erstwhile Janata Dal and then BJD for the last three decades. In between 1990 to 2014, former Minister Prafulla Ghadei was elected consecutively for five times from this seat.
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Subsequently, Ghadei’s elder son Pritiranjan won the MLA seat as BJD candidate in 2014 general elections with a margin of 4,704 votes and by defeating his close contender Sarat Rout.
It is said that BJD failed in solving the basic local problems in the rural areas of Sukinda like increase in child mortality rate at Nagada, lack of road connectivity and non-availability of pure drinking water. These substantially contributed to the rise of BJP in Sukinda Assembly constituency segment, some political analysts opined.
Even to the extent, some of the vital local issues have impacted the voters as anti-incumbency factor ahead of the rural polls. Some of the issues include massive irregularities in utilisation of Rs 13 crore for a road connecting Nagada, a case with Odisha Lokayukta pertaining to the misappropriation, fund of Rs 44 lakh embezzled by raising a false Bill for repair of the road and a case which was registered at local police station after shares between government engineers and the contract firm concerned could not be decided.
Few more issues are unusual delay in the commissioning of mega drinking water projects in Sukinda, allegation of low-quality of work in the under-construction projects and retrenchment of local labourers as well as employment crisis, the political analysts added.
PNN
