BHUBANESWAR: The Pipili assembly constituency is set to witness high-decibel electioneering with barely a week left for the byelection on April 17. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan representing the BJP and other heavyweights are set to hit the campaign trail.
BJD sources said Naveen will address the poll rallies virtually. “We will install LEDs in the six zilla parishad zones of the constituency for the chief minister’s virtual rally. This will ensure smaller gatherings to listen to Naveen babu in view of Covid-19. The dates for the rallies will be finalized soon,” senior BJD leader Umakanta Samantaray said. Samantaray, who represents the nearby Satyabadi constituency in the assembly, is confident of BJD’s victory. “We will win the byelection with a margin of more than 35,000 votes,” he added.
The party’s plan to double the 2019’s victory margin seems to be a well-thought-out strategy to send a message that Naveen’s popularity is still intact in Odisha.
BJD’s Pradeep Maharathy had won the seat by a margin of 15,787 votes in 2019. The ruling party has nominated his son, Rudra Pratap, as its candidate. Pradeep’s death has necessitated the byelection.
The opposition BJP, which had given a tough fight to the BJD in Pipili in the 2019 assembly polls, is pulling out all stops to wrest control from it this time. While many state-level leaders have been camping in Pipili to campaign for party candidate Ashrit Pattanayak, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan — BJP’s face in Odisha — will hold a mega rally in the constituency on April 13. Campaigning ends on April 15.
“Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan is most likely to address a mega rally in the constituency on April 13. This apart, zilla parishad zone-level rallies will be organized from Thursday onwards, which will be addressed by other star campaigners of our party,” senior BJP leader Prithiviraj Harichandan said.