Sambalpur: Saffron Veteran Dharmendra Pradhan supporters across the state are feeling the absence of their popular leader. They frantically want their supreme leader to campaign for them in their respective constituencies. Thanks to a throughly strategic move, the Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) that has fielded its General Secretary (Organisation) Pranab Prakash Das against Union Education Minister and BJP’s Odisha Face Dharmendra Pradhan. So Shri Pradhan is locked up in the tough fight.
Pranab, popularly known as Bobby, has been nominated against the Union Minister to restrict him within the Sambalpur Lok Sabha segment. Shri Pradhan is the only leader in the State BJP who is having widest network and organization across Odisha.
So, it was the strategy of the ruling party to confine him within the Sambalpur MP segment so that he would not be able to visit other places in Odisha for campaigning of other BJP candidates.
As Bobby is fighting for the LS seat, Shri Pradhan spends all time looking after his own constituency. Whenever he got a chance, he somehow tries to visit nearby Dhenkanal Parliamentary segment to attend nomination filing processions only for some candidates.
The BJD made him so engaged in Sambalpur, Saffron Veteran perhaps for the first time, did not attend able to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first two public rallies held recently at Berhampur and Nabarangpur. Even, Shri Pradhan also missed the most important event of release of BJP Manifesto for Odisha Legislative Assembly elections, which was attended by party’s National President J P Nadda,
Later on 7 May, Shri Pradhan addressed the media to inform about the promises made by the BJP in its manifesto. It shows that BJD has somehow succeeded in its move to confine the Union Minister within Sambalpur.
According to local political pundits, the BJD has nominated Bobby for Sambalpur because the party also wants to secure its MLA seats that come under the LS segment.
And most importantly as Sambalpur is the ‘heart’ of Western Odisha, BJD like last time does not want to lose its grip over these areas, which is experiencing ‘ Saffron Wave’.
As Shri Pradhan is the BJP nominee, there was a possibility that his candidature would also impact the seven Vidhan Sabha seats coming under the MP segment. Influence of Shri Pradhan is palpable and now BJD is trying to irritate Saffron Veteran by asking few questions here and there.
Fifty-two-year-old Shri Das is a three-time MLA from Jajpur seat in the coastal area of the state, while Pradhan, who was a Rajya Sabha MP has returned to the electoral fray after a gap of 15 years.
As there is a strong negative feeling about coastal people in western Odisha and under current against Bobby is there. And BJP is trying its best way to take advantage it as Bobby is an outsider.
Earlier, Sambalpur BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Jaynarayan Mishra alleged that Shri Das who hails from Jajpur district in the coastal region of the state is not the son of the soil while BJP candidate Dharmendra Pradhan is a local man.
The BJD is also in back foot for changing the candidates in at least three out of seven MLA segments. Besides, sitting Athmallick MLA from the ruling party has joined the saffron camp, which is also a factor in this poll.
The ruling party has first nominated senior BJD leaders Prasanna Acharya and Rohit Pujari for Sambalpur and Rairakhol Assembly constituencies, respectively. However, following protest by Shri Acharya, the party has interchanged the two leaders’ constituencies.
Similarly, to checkmate sitting BJP MLA from Deogarh, Subash Panigrahi, the BJD first roped in Sambalpur MP (BJP) Nitesh Ganga Deb’s wife Arundhati Devi for the Deogarh MLA seat. However, after a few days, the regional party changed the candidate.
Romancha Ranjan Biswal, who had contested the 2019 elections unsuccessfully, is again nominated by the BJD for the Deogarh segment. So, these sudden changes in candidates from other constituencies and other parties, have also created disturbances within the party and among the people, who were in favour of the BJD.
Speaking to media persons recently, Bobby had said he has been sent to Sambalpur by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who means development of the area.
“I have relations with the people of Sambalpur and not with the candidate of the rival party. I am here to serve the people and take developmental works to the next level.”
Shri Das is the son of late Ashok Das, a popular Janata Dal leader of the 1990s. Though Ashok Das remained an MLA for many years, he had all along worked for the party and never accepted any ministerial berth when Biju Patnaik government was formed in 1990,” the BJD leader had stated.
The Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat has a unique character as none can claim it as any party’s stronghold. In the last three elections in 2009, 2014 and 2019, Sambalpur has voted in favour of three different party candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
In 2009, Congress candidate Amarnath Pradhan won the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 14,874 votes while in 2014, BJD’s Nagendra Pradhan won it by a margin of 30,576 votes. In 2019, BJP candidate Nitesh Ganga Deb won by a margin of 9,162 votes.
This time, Nagendra Pradhan is contesting from Congress ticket. The political analysts also feel that Nagendra would eat into the votes of both BJD and also ‘Chasa’ (farmers) vote as he belongs to the Chasa community. Apart from him, Dharmendra also belongs to the ‘Chasa’ family. If Nagendra would not have contested from the seat, the ‘Chasa’ vote bank might have gone one-sided to BJP. But, now, it will also be divided.
Prior to 2009 when there was an alliance between BJD and the BJP, Prasanna Acharya as a BJD candidate won thrice from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
With such a changing scenario, all eyes are now on the fight for Sambalpur, as it is treated as headquarter of Western Odisha.
