No ‘friendly fight’ in Odisha — BJD fields ‘tough’ candidates following BJP decides towards alliance
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Just take, for instance, the Puri seat, where by the BJD has pitted former Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik towards BJP countrywide spokesperson Sambit Patra. In 2019, Patnaik, a native of Puri, experienced contested from Bhubaneswar and lost to the BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi by 23,839 votes. Patra, who contested from Puri, missing to the BJD’s Pinaki Misra by 11,714 votes. This time, the BJD has dropped Misra, a four-time MP.
An Odisha-primarily based political analyst who did not want to be named explained to ThePrint that Puri has large sentimental importance for the condition. In 2019, the BJD gained five of the 7 assembly segments that type element of the Puri Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP gained the remaining two seats.“The BJD will go all out to retain the seat. At the very same time, Patra’s stature has also gone up inside the BJP given that 2019. The BJP will also place its may well there to wrestle the seat,” the analyst explained. There’s no this sort of issue as a helpful fight in an election, according to Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal. “The BJP is gearing up for a total-on fight with the BJD. On the one hand, there is an anti-wave from Naveen Patnaik and on the other hand, Modi ji’s perform is remaining appreciated. We are confident of bettering our effectiveness as opposed to 2019,” he stated. In 2019, while the BJD experienced gained 12 of the 21 seats and secured a vote share of 43.32 p.c, the BJP had gained in 8 seats and acquired 38.88 p.c of the vote. The Congress managed to gain only just one seat with a vote share of 13.99 p.c.
In Odisha, as in 2019, this year’s Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls will be held simultaneously more than four phases, starting up 13 Could.
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Various hard contests
Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Nabarangpur and Berhampur are amid the other seats that are possible to see tricky fights, with equally the BJD and the BJP putting up sturdy candidates.In Sambalpur in western Odisha, the BJD has pitted its organisational secretary and Jajpur MLA, Pranab Prakash Das, from Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In 2019, the seat was won by the BJP’s Nitesh Ganga Deb, who was denied a ticket this time. Of the 7 assembly seats that are component of the Sambalpur parliamentary constituency, the BJD won 4 seats when the BJP gained 3 in 2019.
“Das is not from western Odisha but staying the BJD’s organisational secretary, he is really resourceful. The celebration will place its organisational toughness guiding him. But the BJP’s Pradhan, currently being the Union education and learning minister, also carries a lot of heft. Theoretically, the edge is with the BJP for the reason that of the notion that if Pradhan wins, he may well get a ministerial position and can do a large amount much more for Sambalpur. It is not likely that even if Das wins, he will be ready to do much… he is not likely to come to be a minister at the Centre,” claimed Ruben Banerjee, previous editor of Outlook, who has followed Patnaik due to the fact his early days and has chronicled his political journey in his ebook, Naveen Patnaik.Bhubaneswar is yet another seat that is set to see a significant-profile contest. Below, it’ll be involving the incumbent MP, Aparajita Sarangi of the BJP, and the BJD’s Manmath Routray, who will be contesting his debut election. A professional pilot, Manmath is the son of Suresh Routray, a Congress chief and sitting MLA from Odisha’s Jatani assembly seat — aspect of the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency — which he has gained six situations. Although the BJP’s Sarangi gained the seat in 2019, Bhubaneswar is thought of a BJD stronghold. “The BJD has a powerful organisational presence there, appropriate up to the booth level. Of the 7 assembly segments in the parliamentary constituency, the BJD gained all but a single seat in 2019. It will be a tough contest as Sarangi is also powerful and won the seat in 2019,” Bhabani Sankar Tripathy, information editor of the Odia everyday Sambad, explained to ThePrint. Suresh Routray, Manmath’s father, experienced resigned from all committees of the Congress after his son joined the BJD. Now, inspite of however remaining a member of the Congress, political commentators say the MLA — who 1st received the Jatani assembly seat on a Janata Occasion ticket in 1977 — will enable his son.
Kendrapara will also witness a difficult contest among the BJD’s Anshuman Mohanty, a previous Congress MLA who defected in February, and the BJP’s Baijayant Panda. In 2019, Panda experienced misplaced to Odia actor and BJD applicant Anubhav Mohanty. Kendrapara is fundamentally a BJD stronghold. The get together received all seven assembly seats that tumble in this Lok Sabha constituency in 2019.“The BJD has set up Anshuman, who is the son of Nalini Kanta Mohanty, a previous working president of the BJD and influential minister in Naveen Patnaik’s cupboard in advance of he was sacked from the celebration,” said a former BJD chief who did not want to be named. However, the previous BJD leader included that though Panda — who joined the BJP in advance of the 2019 elections — contested from Kendrapara and was defeated past time, his stature within just the BJP has grown in the earlier five several years. “He is a nationwide vice president and has also been produced the Uttar Pradesh in-cost for the elections. It’s heading to be a single of the high-profile contests,” the chief claimed.
In Berhampur, the BJP has put up Pradeep Panigrahy — when the suitable-hand male of CM Patnaik, now his vocal critic — in opposition to the BJD’s Chandra Sekhar Sahu. Panigrahy, the sitting down MLA from Gopalpur, who when taken care of matters in the CM’s assembly seat, Hinjili, on his behalf, was expelled from the BJD in 2020 for “anti-individuals activities” and was later arrested by the point out law enforcement in a circumstance of alleged job fraud. He joined the BJP in February. Component of Patnaik’s household district, Ganjam, falls in the Berhampur parliamentary constituency.
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‘Strategic alliance’
Irrespective of the rough electoral contests in the offing, previous Union minister and well known Odia politician Srikant Jena — who returned to the Congress before this month soon after getting expelled in 2019 — believes the BJP and the BJD will keep a “strategic alliance”. “The BJD supported the BJP on all problems in Parliament… they supported Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Rajya Sabha candidature not as soon as but two times. PM Modi and Naveen Patnaik by no means attack each individual other. I phone it a strategic alliance… irrespective of whoever wins, it is heading to be just one basket,” Jena mentioned.
According to Jena, although lots of of the seats will see large-profile contests, it will be a “fake fight”. “It’s a single family… Can Naveen Patnaik say that the BJD will by no means lengthen support to the BJP? The CM desires to explain if he agrees with the BJP ideologically. Unless of course he clarifies, it’s heading to be a pretend struggle,” he included.Jena said the BJP’s condition unit did not want an alliance with the BJD, although the central management pushed for it. “If there was an alliance, the BJP would have been sidelined in about 100 assembly seats. The BJD, extremely cunningly, would have pushed out the BJP in pretty much 100 seats. In an alliance, the BJP assumed they may possibly eliminate much more and the BJD would have gained. That is why the alliance broke,” Jena said. Banerjee is of the perspective that the BJD was keener on an alliance mainly because it preferred to tame and silence BJP by maintaining the latter on its aspect. “It would have supplied them insurance plan that the condition government of Naveen Patnaik would proceed without ED/CBI raids. By keeping the BJP on your facet, you are silencing the principal Opposition. Now that has not labored. So, I think this election will be fought and then they will just take it from there,” he stated.
Even so, he added that one really should not anticipate Patnaik and the BJP to portion means. “Post elections, it will be the similar tale as 2019, with the BJD supporting the BJP in all critical difficulties in Parliament despite not becoming in alliance,” he claimed. Support for Patnaik but anger from Pandian, ‘Modi wave’
In accordance to political analysts, although Patnaik carries on to have a lot of support in Odisha, there is palpable anger against the CM’s close aide V.K. Pandian, who took voluntary retirement from the IAS and joined the BJD previous calendar year. Analysts say that Pandian touring the point out and attending rallies on behalf of Patnaik has not long gone down nicely with the men and women. “They see him as an outsider… any person who is trying to thrust himself on the people today. This is compared with the sentiment that was there for Naveen Patnaik, who fashioned the BJD immediately after his father’s loss of life. He was not thought of an outsider, even with not recognizing the Odia language. He was regarded a son of the soil,” explained the previous BJD chief, quoted before. The chief further mentioned: “This election will be tough… it is not going to be uncomplicated. There is an fundamental professional-Modi wave in Odisha. Pandian’s entry has broken the picture of the BJD. The vote will not go towards Naveen Patnaik, but it will be versus Pandian. I feel the Modi wave we are looking at in Odisha now is mainly because of the negativity in the direction of Pandian, not for the reason that of a good really like in direction of Modi.”Banerjee concurs. “The Modi wave in Odisha has been designed by the exuberance of Mr Pandian. That has not absent down well with the men and women. It’s the level of popularity of Modi compared to the unpopularity of Pandian that is going to destruction the BJD’s nicely-laid-out strategies in the state,” he mentioned.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
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