Rout’s saffron plunge likely to pay rich reward

JAGATSINGHPUR:  With bitter infighting threatening to cast its shadow on the BJD over selection of candidates, the prospects of former Minister and Paradip MLA Damodar Rout from the Balikuda-Erasama Assembly seat is beginning to look bright.Rout, who joined the BJP recently, has already been named its candidate from the constituency. The veteran leader’s biggest strength is the support of locals. Rout had won the erstwhile Erasama Assembly seat five times from 1977 to 2009.

After the bifurcation of the seat, he contested from Paradip and won from the segment twice from 2009 to 2014 and 2014 to 2019. After expulsion from BJD, he has developed rapport with people of Erasama-Balikuda constituency by organising meetings, rallies and attending different programmes. 

The former Minister, post expulsion from the ruling party, had decided to contest from the seat as an independent candidate with the intention to defeat his arch-rival, incumbent legislator Prasant Muduli, who was instrumental in getting him ousted from BJD. In order to achieve his mission, Rout in October last year, had attended rallies and ‘Swabhiman Samabesh’ in the presence of Congress leaders, RTI activists, lawyers, social activists and others. 

Infighting in the ruling party is also going to work in Rout’s favour. Sources said Muduli’s supporters have been seeking his nomination from the Erasama-Balikuda seat instead of Jagatsinghpur from where he is most likely to be fielded by Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik. The ruling party is likely to field Raghunandan Das, who quit BJP, from the constituency. 

Muduli, however, is keen to contest from Balikuda-Erasama. His supporters have also threatened to quit BJD if their demand is not fulfilled. This does not augur well for the party which has witnessed a mass exodus to BJP after Rout took the saffron plunge. At the same time, the BJP leaders and workers who had joined BJD along with Das have warned of going back to the saffron party if he is not given the ticket.

On the other hand, the BJP unit is confident of putting up an united fight behind Rout. Addressing media persons, State BJP vice president Nrusingha Sahu said Rout has full-fledged support of  BJP workers. “We respect the party’s decision to field Rout from the seat,” he said. Sahu said Raghunandan’s switch to BJD would not affect Rout’s prospects as a large number of Congress and BJD leaders and workers are expected to join BJP soon. 

BJP has given party ticket to district BJP unit Satyabrat Mohapatra while Congress has re-nominated sitting MLA Chiranjib Biswal from the Jagatsinghpur Assembly seat. BJD has not yet announced the name of its candidates from the area.