CUTTACK: Even as the BJD has repeated its candidates for six Assembly segments under Cuttack district, a guessing game has started over its candidates for the remaining three seats. The party has repeated candidates for Choudwar-Cuttack, Athagarh, Banki, Cuttack Sadar, Niali and Badamba Assembly segments.
Sources said after the failure of the alliance talks with the BJP, the BJD based on a report of its internal survey had learnt about dissidence and fall in its popularity in the six seats prompting it to play safe by repeating the candidates. Hence while sitting MLAs Souvik Biswal, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Devi Ranjan Tripathy, Chandra Sarathi Behera, Pramod Mallik and Debi Prasad Mishra have been renominated from the six seats, a decision is yet to be taken on Cuttack-Barabati, Salipur and Mahanga.
After former Barabati-Cuttack MLA Debashish Samantaray was sent to Rajya Sabha, the party is searching for a new face for the Assembly constituency. While Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) mayor Subhas Singh is lobbying for a ticket, the party is yet to take a decision on Mahanga MLA Pratap Jena who has been drawn into a legal battle over the Mahanga double murder case.
Former speaker Sarat Kar’s son Sobhan Kar, who has taken voluntary retirement from Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and has involved himself in different social activities and philanthropic work, is yet to join the BJD officially. But Sobhan and his supporters are lobbying hard for a party ticket from Mahanga. “If Kar is assured a party ticket, he will join BJD. We are anxiously waiting for the party’s decision,” said some of his supporters.
Similarly, in Salipur, sitting MLA Prasant Behera is facing a stiff challenge from ticket aspirant Himansu Mohanty who has been carrying out parallel activities in the constituency since long. Behera’s candidature is being vehemently opposed by Mohanty’s supporters. While the delay in announcement of party nomination for Salipur Assembly segment has worried Behera and his supporters, Mohanty and his supporters on the other hand are upbeat to some extent.