Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who is aiming for his sixth consecutive term will contest from two assembly constituencies in the upcoming elections. These two constituencies are Hinjli in the Ganjam district of southern Odisha and Kantabanji in the Balangir district in the western part of the state. This is a repeat of the Biju Janata Dal’s 2019 strategy when the chief minister had contested from two assembly constituencies: Hinjili, which is his home turf, and Bijepur in the Bargarh district in western Odisha.
In a video message, CM Patnaik declared the names of the candidates in the BJD’s fifth list including his own with a ‘namaskar’ and a ‘juhar’, the latter aimed at greeting the voters of western Odisha. In the 1 min 30 sec video, the chief minister reeled out the names of the candidates: “Smt Laxmi Priya Nayak from Chitrakonda, Shri Naveen Patnaik from Kantabanji, Smt Vashra Singh Bariha from Padampur, Shri Rajendra Kumar Satya from Kuchinda, Smt Arundhati Kumari Devi from Deogarh, Smt Sanjukta Singh from Angul, Shri Dilip Kumar Naik from Nimapada, Ms Sulakshana Gitanjali Devi from Sanakhemundi, Dr Indira Nanda from Jeypore. Along with this, there has been a change in the candidates of Sambalpur and Rairakhol with Shri Rohit Pujari from Sambalpur and Shri Prasanna Acharya from Rairakhol.” The BJD is again relying on its star campaigner and party president Naveen Patnaik to boost its performance in the western region of Odisha.
In 2019, contesting from Hinjili and Bijepur, Patnaik won both handsomely and retained Hinjli. Subsequently, he vacated the Bijepur assembly constituency, which the BJD’s candidate Rita Sahu won by a record margin in the ensuing by-election. However, in the Lok Sabha elections, as Odisha went for simultaneous polls, BJP’s Suresh Pujari won the Bargarh parliamentary seat.
In fact, the BJD which won 12 of the 21 seats, fared poorly in western Odisha with five of the eight Lok Sabha wins for the BJP — Bargarh, Balangir, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, and Sundergarh — coming from western Odisha. In the assembly elections, the BJP has emerged as the number two party in western Odisha. The BJD is replaying its 2019 strategy and playing the ‘Naveen card’ in an attempt to stem any further losses in the region. Patnaik contesting from Kantabanji is expected to have a ripple effect in the whole of western Odisha.
Additionally, the BJD has fielded its general secretary (organisation) Pranab Prakash Nanda from Sambalpur where he is pitted against union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan from the BJP. In 2019, the BJP’s Nitesh Ganga Deb wrested the seat from the BJD, defeating Nalini Kanta Pradhan by a little over 9,000 votes. Pranab Prakash Das is a three-time MLA from Jajpur in coastal Odisha and while political analysts are sceptical about the BJD fielding a candidate from coastal Odisha in the western part of the state, the party believes that it is sending a strong signal that it is equally committed to the region by fielding its top faces from western Odisha, which now includes Naveen Patnaik.
In January, chief minister Patnaik inaugurated the Maa Samalei Temple project, dedicating the redeveloped temple premises which, in a first, included a Mahanadi Aarti, to devotees. Maa Samaleshwari, or Maa Samalei as she is popularly known, is the presiding deity of the whole of western Odisha. Similarly, the BJD government dedicated the much-awaited Suktel dam project to the people of the drought-prone western parts.
In the upcoming elections in the assembly constituency of Kantabanji, Patnaik will be up against Santosh Singh Saluja of the Congress who is a four-time MLA from the seat, and Laxman Bag of the BJP. In 2019, the BJP lost this constituency to Saluja by less than 200 votes and the BJD was in the third position. The BJD hopes that Patnaik entering the fray here would be a game changer not just for Kantabanji but also for western Odisha. The strategy is to stall the BJP’s growth and boost the party’s performance in the western belt, not just in the assembly constituencies but also in the Lok Sabha seats here.
Naveen Patnaik will be contesting for the sixth consecutive time from Hinjili in the Aska Lok Sabha constituency and is expected to win from here. Odisha will go for simultaneous polls in four phases on May 13, 20, and 25, June 1. Hinjili and Kantabanji will vote on May 20. Odisha has 147 assembly and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies.
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