KENDRAPADA (ODISHA): The election juggernaut of Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik has virtually put an end to the political career of veteran leader and BJP candidate Bijay Mohapatra who was defeated by ruling party’s Sabitri Agrawalla by 17,655 votes on his home turf Patkura Assembly segment on Wednesday.
For a man known as Naveen’s bête noir, almost half of Bijay’s four-decade-long political career has turned out to be a lone and long battle that has ended on the losing cause.
Bijay had rejoined BJP just before the 2019 General Elections and was attempting to return into the Odisha Assembly after a gap of 20 years but the defeat has put paid to his hopes. When the counting ended, he polled 77,507 votes against 95,362 secured by Sabitri. Congress candidate Jayant Mohanty lost his deposit by getting only 2,090 votes.
The poll was necessitated following the demise of sitting BJD MLA and candidate Bedprakash Agrawalla on April 20, nine days before the poll. The polls had to be postponed after Cyclone Fani hit the State in May. It was finally held on July 20. To cash in on the sympathy wave, BJD had nominated Agrawalla’s widow as the candidate.
The ruling party had left no stone unturned to win the poll in the politically important Patkura assembly segment which witnessed one of the most interesting political battles in the State. Naveen vigorously campaigned in Patkura by addressing many meetings during his roadshow on July 17. His party had deployed 30 ministers and 70 MLAs in Marshaghai, Garadapur and Derabishi blocks within Patkura for more than two weeks to woo voters in favour of BJD.
For Bijay, it was his best chance to emerge out of political hibernation after two decades as he was fighting on a BJP ticket following the improved show of the saffron party in the 2019 elections but the voters sealed his fate by defeating him.
The veteran leader, once a close associate of Biju Patnaik and among the founder members of BJD, fell out of favour with Naveen during the early years of the party’s formation. In the 2000 elections, the BJD president denied him party ticket at the last moment and instead fielded Atanu Sabyasachi.
Though Atanu was defeated by a margin of more than 50,000 votes by Bijay’s supported candidate Trilochan Behera, the fortunes deserted him ever since. Trilochan betrayed Bijay by joining in BJD. In 2004 elections, BJD candidate Atanu defeated Bijay who contested as a candidate of Orissa Gana Parishad, an outfit he had formed. In 2009, BJD leader Bedprakash Agrawalla defeated Bijay Mohapatra (then in BJP) by a margin of 26,735 votes. In 2014, Atanu defeated Bijay from Mahakalapada Assembly segment.
“The election result has surprised me but I respect the voters’ mandate. I will be able to find reasons once I go through the official poll result details,” Bijay told a private TV channel after the outcome of the counting.
On the other hand, the BJD camp was jubilant. AS BJD supporters celebrated the victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets, Sabitri termed it a victory of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “I would like to continue the legacy of my husband who did many developmental works in Patkura,” she said after her victory.
Party leader and former chairman of Kendrapara municipality Dhiren Sahoo said the Chief Minister’s pitch for development touched the voters “The Chief Minister during his campaigning urged the voters to elect BJD candidate Sabitri Agrawalla for development of Patkura. The election result is Waterloo for Bijay Mohapatra,” he said.
BJP, on the other hand, accused the ruling party of using money and muscle power to win the poll. “Black money had a big role in this election and BJD spent crores to win this election. We congratulate the voters who cast their votes in large numbers in favour of BJP,” said Dyurodhan Sahoo, president of the district unit of BJP.