JAGATSINGHPUR: Facing internal tussle over selection of candidate, the BJD is desperate to resolve the conflict ahead of Tirtol bypoll.
In the last couple of days, the ruling party has convened several closed door meetings to bring the warring factions together. On Wednesday, a meeting was held in the house of BJD’s Biridi block president Rabindra Roul.
A similar meeting was held by Paradip MLA Sambit Routray at his residence in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Another meet at Bhubaneswar to reconcile the two rival factions of Raghunathpur block yielded no result.
Sources said the rift between supporters of former MLA late Bishnu Das and Jagatsinghpur MP Rajashree Mallick has widened after selection of Bijay Shankar Das as the BJD candidate for Tirtol by-election.
Bishnu’s son Bijay is facing stiff opposition from his own party leaders and workers, identified as supporters of the MP, at the grassroots level.
BJD presidents of three blocks - Rabindra of Birdi, Debashish Tripathy of Raghunathpur and Ganagadhar Biswal of Tirtol are supporters of Mallick.
Sources said neither Bijay nor his supporters have approached these three leaders for help during the election campaign so far. Due to their support for the MP, the BJD candidate is yet to take them into confidence.
While BJP and Congress candidates have intensified their campaign in different villages, BJD is yet to start the exercise due to the intra-party conflict.
Political observers said the rift may affect the prospects of BJD in the bypoll if it is not resolved soon. The conflict has not only cast a shadow over BJD’s election campaign in Tirtol, Raghunahtpur and Biridi blocks, it has also delayed filing of nomination papers by Bijay.