BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Friday named late MLA Pradeep Maharathy’s son, Rudra Pratap, as its candidate for the Pipili byelection on April 17. Maharathy’s death in October last year has made the bypoll necessary.
Moments after chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik announced his name, Rudra said, “I am thankful to the chief minister for reposing faith in me. I will do my best to complete the unfinished works initiated by my late father for the people of my area.”
A management post graduate, the 34-year-old currently works as an administrative officer in a leading management institute here. Though Rudra’s mother Pratibha was also an aspirant, he said, “My mother’s blessings are with me.”
The BJP has re-nominated its 2019 candidate, Ashrit Pattanayak, who filed his papers in Puri on Friday. “People of Pipili will vote for the development initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They will vote for change this time,” he added.
The Congress is yet to name its candidate. “A committee has been formed to pick the most suitable candidate. We will announce the name within the next two days,” Niranjan Patnaik, president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, said.
Political observers will keenly watch the outcome of the byelection in Pipili, which has been the pocket borough of the Maharathy family since late 80s. Pradeep Maharathy had won from here seven times — in 1985 and 1990 on Janata Dal ticket and in all the five assembly elections (2000, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019) that BJD fought after formation of the regional party. A grassroots leader, Maharathy had earlier held important portfolios such as agriculture and panchayati raj, in Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet.
The BJP has emerged as a major challenge in Puri district, of which Pipili is a part. The saffron party won two assembly seats of Brahmagiri and Puri in 2019 elections. In Pipili, BJP’s Ashrit had polled more than 72,000 votes in 2019 while Maharathy had won by polling more than 88,000.