BJD to bite dust in Bijepur: Dharmendra

BHUBANESWAR:A day after BJD’s claim of winning the Bijepur by-election, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said his party will emerge victorious with a huge margin. “Public resentment against the ruling BJD is getting stronger and no force can stop the BJP from winning the Bijepur by-poll,” Pradhan told reporters here.

The Union Minister said people have made up their mind for a change of Government in the State. This has been evident from the February elections to the three-tier panchayati raj institutions (PRIs).
Responding to a query, Pradhan said sympathy factor will not work in favour of the BJD as people’s mandate in the by-election will be against 17 years of misrule, corruption and incompetence of the Naveen Patnaik Government.

A BJP victory from Bijepur will lay the foundation for saffron party’s march towards achieving the ‘Mission 120+’ target by dislodging the BJD Government in 2019, he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister SN Patro had claimed that his party’s victory in the by-election is a foregone conclusion as all Congress leaders of Bijepur have joined the BJD after the party announced the candidature of Ritarani Sahu, wife of former Congress MLA Subal Sahu.

Asked about the BJP nominee for the by-poll, Pradhan said the party has not decided yet. However, a decision will be taken after consulting local leaders of the party, he added.
Describing Pradhan’s claim of winning the by-poll as a daydream, senior BJD leader and party spokesperson Amar Satpathy said, “Let the BJP first pick up a suitable candidate.”
Given the present political situation in Bijepur, the BJP may find it hard to field a candidate for the by-poll, Satpathy said.

While the Congress and BJP are in search for a suitable candidate for the by-election, speculations are rife that the saffron party is in touch with former BJD MLA Ashok Panigrahi.
The by-poll has been necessitated following the death of Subal Sahu who won the seat for three consecutive terms. The BJP was in third position in the 2009 and 2014 polls.

Ashok Panigrahi to join BJP

Bhubaneswar: Former MLA and suspended BJD leader Ashok Panigrahi is all set to join BJP. Panigrahi, who is trying for a BJP ticket to contest the by-poll to the Bijepur Assembly constituency, will join the saffron party at Barpali on October 2. The former MLA had raised a banner of revolt and shot off a strongly worded letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after Ritarani Sahu, widow of Congress MLA Subal Sahu, was announced as BJD candidate for the by-poll.