BHUBANESWAR: The stars are set to descend on
Bijepur ahead of the February 24 byelection. From Siddhant Mohapatra and Anubhav Mohanty to
Pinky Pradhan, both the BJD and the BJP have lined up several Odia film biggies to campaign for the respective parties besides the top leaders.
While chief minister
Naveen Patnaik will headline the BJD campaign with two rallies on February 19 and 21, respectively, actor-turned-politician including Berhampur MP Mohapatra, Rajya Sabha member Mohanty, Korei MLA Akash Das Nayak, Munna Khan, Arindam Ray and Kuna Tripathy would be seen extending support to the party nominee.
The BJP, too, is not far behind. With party president Amit Shah expected to be the star campaigner, the saffron outfit party has also named Odia actors Mihir Das, Pradhan and Sritam Das to add the glamour quotient. Union ministers Smriti Irani and Babul Supriyo are also expected to add heft to the campaign along with central ministers like Radha
Mohan Singh, Giriraj Singh,
Dharmendra Pradhan,
Jual Oram and Ram Kripal Yadav for party candidate Ashok Panigrahy.
Political analysts feel the filmstars may not have the potential to boost the electoral prospects of any party, but their presence can be a major factor to pull crowd for public meetings and rallies. The BJD, meanwhile, took pot shots at the BJP after it dropped
Chhattisgarh chief minister
Raman Singh's name from the list of 40 star campaigners
"Singh's name may have been dropped anticipating protest from the people of Odisha in the wake of Chhattisgarh's illegal constructions over the Mahanadi," BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said.
On BJPs decision to rope in party president Shah, Deb said they are least bothered about it. "The choice to rope in leaders to campaign is their internal issue. We will fight the election according to the strategy determined by our party president," Deb added.
BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said people of Bijepur would give a befitting reply to the ruling BJD for the injustice it has done to them in the past 18 years. "We have already started campaigning and senior leaders will join soon," Sharma said. Though Congress is yet to reveal the list of campaigners, party veteran Narasingha Mishra said they don't need any stars as Bijepur is a Congress bastion and a victory in the byelection is a certainty.
