JAJPUR: A triangular contest among the ruling BJD, BJP and Congress is on the cards in Korei Assembly constituency of Jajpur district.
A stronghold of BJD since 2000, the constituency is witnessing an interesting electoral battle after the ruling party sprang a surprise by announcing the name of Sandhyarani Das as its candidate from Korei. Sandhyarani is the mother of BJD’s organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das.
Political observers said the ruling party has apparently fielded Sandhyarani from Korei with twin objectives. Winning the Assembly seat is likely to be easy for her as Korei is a family stronghold and has been represented by her husband Ashok Das five times.
Besides, the candidature of Sandhyarani is being seen as a back-up plan for Pranab who is the BJD’s candidate from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat and is pitted against BJP heavyweight and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. If Das fails to win, he can always get himself elected from Korei through a by-election.
Expressing confidence of winning the polls, Sandhyarani said, “People are happy with the welfare schemes launched by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led government. I am confident of winning the election with a good margin.”
Similarly, BJP has fielded former MLA and popular Ollywood actor Akash Das Nayak from the Assembly seat. Known for his organisational skills, Akash quit the BJD recently after being denied a party ticket and joined the BJP. Many senior BJD leaders and supporters of Akash also followed suit and joined the saffron party.
Akash was elected from Korei on a BJD ticket in 2014. However in 2019, he was denied a party ticket and replaced by Ashok Kumar Bal who won the election by defeating his nearest rival Biswajit Nayak of BJP by a margin of around 30,000 votes.
Soft-spoken and amiable, Akash enjoys a strong support base in the constituency and has remained connected with the voters since 2014. Sources said Akash holds an edge over other candidates and the saffron party is likely to benefit from the actor-turned-politician’s popularity in Korei this time.
Congress candidate Bandita Parida, the former chairperson of Vyasanagar municipality, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 election from Korei. She too is a good organiser and has a large support base at the grassroots level. Bandita is banking on her local influence and the anti-incumbency against the BJD in Korei.