KENDRAPARA: The voters of Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency have elected a non-Congress candidate again. Baijayant Jay Panda of the BJD defeated Congress candidate and ex-cricketer Ranjib Biswal by a margin of more than one lakh votes.
Kendrapara has rejected Congress candidates 14 out of 15 times in the Lok Sabha elections. Congress leader Nityananda Kanungo had won the first general elections from Kendrapara in 1952. No Congress candidate has won since then.
‘It is the victory of Naveen Patnaik. The voters of Kendrapara have faith in the Chief Minister. I will take up many development works in Kendrapara,’ said a delighted Baijayant Panda.
Ranjib Biswal’s father and senior Congress leader Basant Biswal was defeated in the 1982 byelection from Kendrapara by Sarat Dev, the Janata Dal candidate and a protege of Biju Patnaik.
Prominent losers belonging to the Congress from the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat in the past are: Bhagabat Prasad Mohanty, Basant Biswal, Surendra Mohanty, Archana Nayak and Batakrushna Nayak. On the other hand, prominent non-Congress leaders who were elected from the seat are Biju Patnaik, Surendranath Dwivedi, Rabi Ray and Pravat Samantray.
In the seventh Lok Sabha elections in 1980 when pro-Congress wave had swept the State, the voters in Kendrapara returned the veteran Biju Patanik from the Opposition. A similar trend was evident in the 1984 elections.
The sympathy wave in favour of Rajiv Gandhi, following the death of Indira Gandhi, which led the Congress to a landslide victory, failed to have an impact on the electorate here and people again elected Biju Patnaik.
Biju’s charisma worked wonders with the people here. He still remains etched on their memory. Biju’s son Naveen is also popular among the people.