Bijoy dares Naveen to contest from Patkura

BHUBANESWAR: Senior leader and BJP candidate from Patkura Assembly seat Bijoy Mohapatra dared BJD president Naveen Patnaik to contest from the constituency instead of wasting time to stop the election.

Mohapatra, a four-time MLA from Patkura, accused the BJD chief of conspiring to stop the election in the constituency. His remarks came in the wake of Chief Minister’s request to Election Commission of India to defer Patkura election in view of the IMD prediction of a possible landfall of cyclone Fani on Odisha coast.

“Since the beginning of the elections in the State, the ruling BJD has been hatching a conspiracy to delay the process in Patkura. Now, the party is trying to cancel the poll,” Mohapatra told mediapersons.

Without taking the name of the Chief Minister, Mohapatra said, “Instead of wasting time in political machination how to stall the election, the ruling party chief should take a decision to contest from the constituency.”

Reminding the Chief Minister that his father was once elected from Patkura, Mohapatra said, former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was an MLA candidate from here and had won the elections from the constituency during his days.

“I had also won a by-poll from the Assembly segment in 1980. Since he (Naveen) has taken charge of the State for so many years, I advise him to take responsibility of Patkura Assembly constituency after his father and file nomination for which there is enough time,” he said.

The senior BJP leader’s conspiracy theory stems from BJD’s decision to nominate a seriously ailing Bed Prakash Agrawalla who passed away recently necessitating fresh poll. The Election Commission has fixed May 19 date for the election.

Meanwhile, the BJD has nominated Bed Prakash’s wife Sabitri Agarwalla and she filed her nominations for the segment on Tuesday.

A close associate of Biju Patnaik and a powerful minister in his Cabinet from 1990 to 1995, Mohapatra has been a victim of Naveen’s political manoeuvres since 2000 elections. The veteran leader is unable to win another election after 1995.