Gond leader dumps Cong, joins BJD ahead of bypoll

Bhubaneswar: In the run-up to the Jharsuguda assembly bypoll, the BJD on Friday inducted Mahendra Naik who had secured only 10% votes for the Congress in the 2019 election and had lost his deposit.
Naik, a Gond tribal leader from Jharsuguda, along with some tribals from the district and Balangir, joined the BJD in the presence of Rajya Sabha member Manas Mangaraj.
Experts said the BJD seems to be desperate to woo tribal voters in Jharsuguda ahead of the bypoll. Of the total 2,21,070 electors in the constituency, the number of tribal voters would be around 18,000. While the total population of Jharsuguda district is about 5.8 lakh, ST communities constitute around 1.8 lakh.
Jharsuguda constituency is a general category seat where slain minister Naba Kisore Das had a dominating run. Jharsuguda, which was once a Congress stronghold, started losing its foothold after Naba joined the BJD in the run-up to the 2019 assembly election. Naba, who was the Congress MLA from Jharsuguda in 2009 and 2014, won the seat on a BJD ticket in 2019. His daughter Dipali is now contesting the bypoll, scheduled on May 10, on a BJD nominee.
“Naik had failed to make a mark in the 2019 elections despite being a Gond tribal leader. Perhaps he was aspiring for a Congress ticket in this bypoll. When the Congress picked Tarun Pandey, the BJD might have thought of poaching him to secure some tribals votes for its candidate Dipali Das,” observed Sangram Keshari Swain, a retired political science professor.
In an apparent bid to woo Gond voters, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had recently requested chief minister Naveen Patnaik to rename Jharsugudas Gondwana Chowk after noted tribal leader Veer Karunakar Singh Naik.
BJD described Naik as a strong leader. “Inspired by the vision of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, renowned Congress leader from Jharsuguda, Mahendra Naik, along with hundreds of leaders and members from Jharsuguda and Balangir joined the BJD. Their joining will definitely make the BJD stronger,” Mangaraj said.
Naik, who had bagged only 18,823 votes out of a total of 1,76,187 valid votes polled in Jharsuguda in 2019, said he would give his best to strengthen the BJD in the constituency.