PARADIP: With the BJD playing the waiting game to decide the candidate for the crucial Paradip constituency, the appearance of Gitanjali Routray, wife of sitting MLA Sambit Routray, has added a twist to the political plot.
Gitanjali, also daughter-in-law of the veteran leader late Damodar Rout, took centrestage at a public meeting in Kujang on Friday to rally support for her to secure the BJD ticket for the Paradip seat.
Sambit has been facing stiff resistance from dissident groups and in a bid to salvage the situation, party leaders convened an organisational meeting in Kujang where support for Sambit was mobilised.
In fact, the meeting is being seen as Sambit’s way of show of strength to nullify the dissidence and at the same time to project wife Gitanjali as an option.
Addressing party workers, Gitanjali said, “I am the daughter-in-law of Damodar Rout and committed to fulfilling the dreams of my father-in-law who worked all his life for the development of Paradip, Kujang, and Ersama.”
In the past, she had also accompanied her mother-in-law in campaigning door-to-door for Rout senior when he contested from this seat. She had campaigned for her husband in the last Assembly election.
Legislator Sambit also expressed shock at the activities of dissidents, especially by the former chairman of Kujang block and former sarpanch, who he claimed were supported by his father.
“Now these leaders are out to oust me and urging not to give a party ticket to me from this seat. It is unfortunate but I will accept the decision of the party supremo,” Sambit said.
The BJD has already announced the names of sitting MLA Prasant Muduli from the Jagatsinghpur seat and Ramakant Bhoi from the Tirtol seat, leaving Paradip and Balikuda-Ersama seats in the midst of a frenetic ticket selection process.
As the poll heat rises, dissident leaders from 36 panchayats of Paradip Assembly constituency are apparently opposed to the Rout family.
That’s not all. Arindam Sarkhel’s resignation from Congress and his wife Monideepa joining BJD must be seen from this perspective. While Monideepa was given a position, Arindam popularly known as Bapi is apparently angling for a nomination from Paradip.
Bapi had contested from Paradip Assembly seat as a Congress candidate and lost to Damodar Rout in 2014 and son Sambit in 2019. After that he maintained distance from Congress and floated his non-political organisation ‘Ama Paradip, Ama Pragati’ whose members contested both panchayat and urban elections as Independents.