BHUBANESWAR: With more than a hundred leaders of different political parties testing COVID-19 positive, political parties are waiting for guidelines from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on how to go about campaigning for the by-polls to Assembly constituencies in Odisha.
The by-polls are going to be fought in a completely changed scenario when there will be no public meetings or door-to-door campaigns by candidates. Virtual meetings at the village level are going to help political parties like the ruling BJD and BJP which have more resources at their command.
“Congress is going to suffer in this type of campaign as BJD and BJP have more resources,” leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra said. The party is waiting for the ECI to come out with details and take steps accordingly.
The Congress leader said final discussion on candidates for Balasore Sadar and Tirtol Assembly seats are yet to be held.
The BJP is also yet to finalise candidates for the two seats. Campaigning will be done as per ECI guidelines and strictly adhering to COVID-19 protocols including social distancing, said State BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra.
However, the BJD is confident of convincing wins from both Balasore Sadar and Tirtol. Hectic lobbying has already started for getting a ticket from the ruling BJD for by-polls.
In absence of campaigning, BJD will take advantage of its village level functionaries including the sarpanchs who are active at the ground level during the pandemic. The ECI on Saturday announced that by-polls to Assembly constituencies will be completed by November 29.