Rajgangpur: Well ahead of municipal elections, debates are raging on the political move of the veteran tribal leader Mangala Kisan in and around the Rajgangpur Assembly constituency segment, a report said.
According to sources, it is said that ruling BJD has neglected Kisan for years in the party organisation. This could impact performance of the party during the upcoming municipal elections in Rajgangpur area.
Worthy to note, Kisan had lost the 2019 election from Rajgangpur Assembly constituency from a Congress candidate by a marginal difference. Even after the general elections, he spearheaded the party as its district president. However, he was replaced by Binay Toppo a few days back to lead the party in Sundargarh district.
The BJD’s internal elections for block and municipal level chiefs are under way where supporters of Kisan have been ignored. Previous president of Rajgangpur town Amaresh Panda has been replaced by Rajendra Behera.
Likewise, Kisan’s ardent supporter and Lathikata block president Md Asfir Ahmed was replaced by Chuman Tigga as organisation president in the block. The tribal leader Kisan worked as MLA with both Biju Patnaik and now his son Naveen.
Kisan has a special identity as a political leader in Sundargarh district. Political analysts see him being neglected by the BJD. For this, the party could suffer the impact of new political equations in Rajgangpur Assembly constituency segment, the analysts opined.
Similarly, newly elected Rajgangpur president Behera happens to be a local contractor who has little experience in politics. He may not be able to strengthen the party’s position in this area.
Apart from this, internal bickering in the BJD camp surfaced during the celebration of Biju Jayanti in Rajgangpur town a few days back. The differences were apparent as supporters of Toppo and Kisan observed the birth anniversary of late Biju Patnaik separately here.
Even as the ruling party has neglected a party veteran like Kisan and entrusted organisation leadership in Rajgangpur town on much less experienced hand like Behera, this may harm the political prospect of the party during upcoming civic elections.
PNN