Fate of former bureaucrats, ministers sealed in 3rd phase

Bhubaneswar: The fate of many heavyweights and public personalities have been sealed with the end of third phase elections on Tuesday when six parliamentary constituencies and 42 assembly segments went to the polls.
At least six ministers were in the fray in various assembly seats but all eyes were on the politically-sensitive Ghasipura under Keonjhar Lok Sabha seat where school and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra is pitted against OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik.

Political rivalry took an ugly turn in the constituency after Niranjan’s vehicle was attacked and some of his supporters were injured in a clash.

Debutants Aparajita Sarangi, a former IAS officer, and Arup Patnaik, former Mumbai police commissioner, both contending for Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency, and former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra are also in the fray in the third phase.

Mishra, a former CRPF DG, has been pitted against five-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab and former minister and Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo. “I have witnessed tremendous enthusiasm among voters this time. I hope the Cuttack parliamentary segment would witness record voting this time,” said Mahtab after casting his vote.

In Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, former works secretary Nalinikanta Pradhan locked horns with BJP candidate and Deogarh royal Nitish Gangadeb and former state Congress president Sarat Patnaik. “I have travelled across the seven assembly segments under Sambalpur parliamentary segment. People have appreciated the good works done by the BJD government and they want Naveen Patnaik as their chief minister for the fifth time,” Pradhan told reporters after casting his vote.

Supreme Court lawyer and BJD Puri Lok Sabha candidate Pinaki Mishra cast his vote in Ekamra-Bhubaneswar constituency. Mishra is seeking the fourth term from the holy town while BJP has fielded its television face Sambit Patra from the constituency. Riding on the Narendra Modi wave, Patra has extensively campaigned in the constituency for the past one month and is expected to give a tough fight to the lawyer-politician.

Fate of many other senior leaders, including former BJD ministers Sanjay Das Burma from Brahmagiri, Debi Mishra (Badamba), Ranendra Pratap Swain (Athagarh) and Arun Sahoo (Nayagarh), Congress veteran Suresh Routray (Jatni), former state Congress chief Jayadev Jena (Anandpur), senior BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra (Sambalpur), former city mayor Ananta Jena (Bhubaneswar-Central) and former Union minister K P Singhdeo (Dhenkanal LS seat) have been decided on Tuesday.