Will it be a Brajarajnagar rerun for BJP in Odisha?

BHUBANESWAR: The cliche surrounding BJP that it is always ‘election-ready’ at the national level applies to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) when it comes to the battle of ballot in Odisha. The pre-poll assessment for the saffron party does not appear bright for by-election to Jharsuguda Assembly constituency and it is feared the results may be similar to Brajarajnagar where its candidate and former legislator Radharani Panda could not even retain her deposit.

The May 10 battle is most likely to be a three-cornered one and the ruling BJD is way ahead of its rivals in every aspect of election management. With campaigning gaining pace in the constituency comprising four blocks, preliminary report from the Assembly segment suggests BJD nominee Deepali Das, daughter of slain minister Naba Kishore Das, has an advantage over her opponents owing to voters’ sympathy. 

Deepali is riding high on the popularity of her father who was murdered by an assistant sub-inspector on duty in broad daylight. The BJP which has made the deteriorating law and order situation as its main poll plank, is not getting the desired traction with the voters.

If sources in BJP associated with election management and campaigning for party candidate Tankadhar Tripathy are to be believed, the party may be pushed to the third position. “It is too early to say as the voting is two weeks away but given the public mood, the Congress is fast improving its position from the 2019 election when it got only 11 per cent of the votes and was pushed to third position,” the sources said.

After the demise of Das, a two-time Congress MLA before he switched over to BJD just before the last Assembly election, the Congress votes which were with him are now getting consolidated in favour of party nominee Tarun Pandey whose father Birendra Pandey was a three-time MLA from the constituency and a popular leader.

On the other hand, the BJP candidate, a resident of Sundargarh, is considered an outsider and has no base in the constituency which is why a major chunk of the party’s votes is likely to go the Congress, said sources.