BHUBANESWAR: With by-election to Bijepur to be announced anytime by the Election Commission of India following the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from the Assembly segment, the BJP has started preparing an electoral strategy on how to snatch the seat from BJD.
A committee of senior members of the BJP on Sunday held a closed-door meeting to discuss Bijepur and Patkura elections.
While leaders present at the meeting preferred not to reveal what transpired among them, BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said a preliminary discussion on possible strategies to be adopted by the party for the two constituencies were deliberated.
Sources familiar with the development said the discussion mostly centred around candidate selection for Bijepur seat. Names of two candidates figured at the meeting. Apart from Sanat Kumar Gartia, who lost to the Chief Minister, the committee saw the potential in former MLA from Padampur, Pradip Purohit.
Purohit has emerged a favourite despite having lost Padampur seat in a keen contest to BJD candidate and former minister Bijay Ranjan Bariha. Purohit defeated Bariha in the 2014 election but lost the 2019 poll by a margin of 5,734 seats.
A good orator, Purohit’s performance in the last Assembly has come in his favour.
“Gartia’s performance is no less given the fact that he managed to garner 53,482 popular votes against the Chief Minister’s 1,10,604 votes in a multi-cornered contest.
He is young and dynamic. Given a choice between the two, Purohit is a favourite for he is better mannered and his Assembly performance is outstanding,” sources in the party said.
Though the meeting discussed Patkura election, an elaborate discussion on the issue will be held later in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Pradhan, who attended the core committee meeting in the morning, had to skip this meeting as had a prior engagement.
The secret meeting was attended by party president Basant Panda, party’s state in-charge Arun Singh, national vice president Baijayant Panda, former minister KV Singhdeo, general secretaries Prithviraj Harichandan, Bhrugu Baxipatra and vice-president Samir Mohanty.