CM Naveen Patnaik may campaign virtually in Jharsuguda by-election

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is unlikely to campaign physically for Deepali Das, BJD’s candidate for Jharsuguda bypoll scheduled on May 10. Instead, he may address voters of the Assembly constituency through video conference.

A senior BJD leader involved in the party’s campaign for the bypoll said scheduling public meetings for the chief minister in the four blocks of Jharsuguda Assembly constituency will be tough. However, through vide0 conferencing, the BJD supremo can cover the entire constituency in a single meeting. Roadside meetings will be organised across the constituency during the chief minister’s video conference speech to reach out to maximum number of voters.

The chief minister leads the list of 40-star campaigners declared by BJD for the bypoll. Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya, who is the observer for the bypoll, said a decision on campaign by the chief minister is yet to be taken by the party. He said the decision will be taken in a day or two.

The chief minister had recently physically campaigned for party candidate Barsha Singh Bariha for the Padampur by-poll. He addressed three public meetings in as many blocks of the constituency. However, for the five bypolls held earlier, he had campaigned virtually for the party’s candidates.