Bhaskar Parichha
In the midst of the festive season, Bijepur Assembly segment under the Bargarh Lok Sabha seat is going to the polls for the third time in less than two years. Even otherwise also, Bijepur is witnessing a high voltage electoral tussle. The constituency has turned into a political hotspot as dozens of leaders from the three main parties are camping there to fine-tune their strategies ahead of voting on the 21st.
As reports say, anything may happen between now and the polling date; and the voters may show their maturity once again. Being the seat that chief minister and Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik vacated just days after winning it in the April-May election, the by-poll assumes special significance also for the opposition BJP and Congress.
For the ruling BJD, it has become a prestige seat. As is the practice, several ministers in Patnaik’s government and senior leaders are camping there. One interesting aspect of the Bijepur byelection is that BJP is keen to bag this seat, because of the party’s impressive performance in Western Odisha in the Lok Sabha polls.
The party has roped in a number of national leaders for the campaign. In the triangular contest that is shaping up in Bijepur, the main fight is set to be between the ruling BJD and the BJP. More than 2 lakh eligible voters will pick up an MLA to represent it. BJD has relied on party leader and former MLA Rita Sahu while BJP has nominated Sanat Kumar Gartia and Congress has fielded Dilip Panda.
A look at the voting pattern of Bijepur in the past to elections will give an idea of the winning chances of the candidates. Rita Sahu had won from Bijepur as a BJD candidate in 2018 by a margin of over 41,000 votes when the by-poll was held in the constituency following the death of her husband and then Congress MLA Subal Sahu. Naveen had won the 2019 general polls in Bijepur with a whopping 1, 10,604 votes against his nearest rival, BJP’s Sanat Garthia who got 53,482 votes. Bijepur has traditionally been a BJP stronghold. In the 2017 Panchayat elections, the Hindutva party had done phenomenally in this western belt. Even in the 2019 Bargarh Lok Sabha election, Suresh Pujari had won handsomely.
Three days before he vacated the Bijepur seat in May, Patnaik had announced a Rs 1,330-crore package for the constituency which included plans to provide pucca houses to 34,000 households. But Neither the development package nor the camping of ministers in Bijepur will help BJD win this by-poll as voters there are deeply hurt by the chief minister’s betrayal says BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty. He is of the view that the voters are ready for a course correction this time.
While seeking votes for the party candidate, Sanat Gartia union minister Dharmendra Pradhan too has said the people of Bijepur had committed a mistake by electing Mr. Patnaik who vacated the seat. In this battle of wits, who loses and who wins remains to be seen.
