BHUBANESWAR: As campaigning for Patkura election gains pace, three major political parties - BJD, BJP and Congress - have lined up star campaigners with a hope to rake in more votes for their respective candidates.
While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the ruling BJD’s main vote catcher, is among the 40 ‘star campaigners’ of the party, BJP has roped in Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi among others to add strength to the high-pitched electoral battle in Patkura, which will go to polls on July 20.
ALSO READ: Odisha Patkura polls: BJD lines up top leaders to ensure BJP's Bijay Mohapatra's defeat
For Congress, all senior leaders and sitting MLAs will canvass for party candidate Jayant Mohanty.
The three parties on Thursday released their lists of 40 ‘star campaigners’ after submitting the same to the Chief Electoral Officer here.
The BJD had already engaged eight Ministers, over two dozen MLAs, one MP and several Odia film stars to campaign for party candidate Sabitri Agarwal.
“The Chief Minister is likely to visit Patkura on July 17 and participate in a road show apart from addressing some public meetings,” said Labour Minister Sushant Singh, who is among the eight Ministers looking after BJD’s poll campaigning in Patkura.
ALSO READ: Pratap Chandra Sarangi asserts BJD defeat in Patkura bypolls in Odisha
Similarly, the saffron party, apart from the two Union Ministers, has included former Union Minister Jual Oram, Baijayant Panda, Suresh Pujari, Arun Singh, Sambit Patra, Basanta Panda, KV Singh Deo, Aparajita Sarangi, Sangeeta Singh Deo, Pradipta Naik, Sameer Dey and Damodar Rout its list of star campaigners.
The Congress has asked its nine MLAs to campaign for its candidate. Odisha in-charge of the party Jitendra Singh and T S Singhdeo, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik and senior leader Narasingh Mishra are the other star campaigners.
Exuding confidence of Congress putting up a good show in Patkura, the OPCC president said his party will appeal to the electorate to vote for Congress to raise their voice in the Assembly as the BJD and BJP have joined hands after the general elections.
Accusing the ruling party of using money power to influence voters, former minister Damodar Rout said the Chief Minister has directed Ministers to buy votes at any cost to prevent the entry of BJP candidate Bijay Mohapatra.
“We request people to vote for Mohapatra for the ‘Swabhiman’ of Patkura,” he added.