BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik skipped campaigning for Pipili bypoll which came to a close on Monday evening. Party leaders in-charge of the bypoll were expecting that the Chief Minister will do virtual campaigning for party candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy on the last day. However, as the Chief Minister is in New Delhi, it could not materialise. He will return on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister had campaigned for Maharathy on virtual mode on April 12 before the bypoll was deferred because of the second wave of the Covid-19. His name had also figured as the regional party’s star campaigner.
The regional outfit had stationed at least a dozen ministers and two dozen MLAs in the constituency at the panchayat level to woo the voters. Party candidate Maharathy focused mostly on door-to-door campaigning during the last couple of days. However, BJD leaders in-charge of the party’s bypoll management are confident of a smooth sailing for the candidate. The party mainly concentrated on welfare measures launched by the State government to woo the voters.
The BJP, which had launched a spirited campaign to wrest the seat from the BJD, also concentrated on a door-to-door campaign. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan campaigned for party candidate Ashrit Pattanayak on September 25 and met beneficiaries of Ujjwala Yojana during his campaign in the constituency. Former Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi and several other senior leaders including State unit president Sameer Mohanty actively campaigned for the candidate. Sarangi visited several villages in Dandamkundapur panchayat and urged people to vote for Pattanayak. The Congress campaign was led by OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik. Bishwakesan Harichandan from Congress is trying his luck in the bypoll.