BHUBANESWAR: Suspense over the ruling BJD candidate for the Pipili Assembly seat continues even as the nomination process for the by-election has commenced.
Though there is a general impression that a member of late Pradip Maharathy’s family will get the nomination, developments over the last one week point towards the possibility that Chief Minister and party supremo Naveen Patnaik may again spring a surprise by announcing the name of a complete newcomer for the seat.
The BJD has fielded complete outsiders in some of the constituencies several times in the past and has been successful.
In the bypoll to Balasore Assembly seat held on November 2, 2020, the party pulled off a victory by fielding Swarup Kumar Das, a new face, who was not in contention for a ticket though several veterans were in the race.
However, in Pipili, the ticket may go to a person who is not connected with day-to-day politics. The candidate is likely to be either a woman, a retired bureaucrat or a person with achievements in non-political field, sources said.
Though there has been demand from a section of the ruling BJD that the ticket should go to a family member of Maharathy, there seems to be a second thought about the issue.
Race for ticket has created an impression of differences between Maharathy’s wife Pratibha and his son Rudra Pratap, though both have denied it.
The Pipili Assembly constituency was represented by Maharathy for seven times since 1985 till his death with a gap of only one term between 1995 to 2000 when Judhistir Samantray of Congress won the seat.
If a family member of Maharathy is given a ticket, the seat will remain in the clutch of the family again as the ruling BJD does not see any serious contest for the party in the bypoll.
The Chief Minister had announced development projects worth Rs 68 crore for Pipili and Delang blocks in Puri district on February 24.
However, none from the Maharathy family was associated with the function. Political observers maintained that this may be a pointer towards future developments in the constituency where the bypoll will be held on April 17.